Here’s how to comment on Bellingham proposed new tax to ease the homeless crisis
Bellingham City Council has fast-tracked consideration of a new sales tax to ease its homeless crisis, starting with a hearing next week.
Council members will take public comment during an online meeting starting at 7 p.m. Monday, March 8, on a measure to build more low-income housing and fund mental health services by adding one-tenth of 1% to Bellingham’s sales tax.
No vote on the tax proposal is planned March 8.
A first vote is scheduled for a special council meeting at 2 p.m. Monday, March 15.
Councilman Dan Hammill proposed the measure at the council’s Feb. 22 meeting and it received unanimous support to bring it forward as a proposed ordinance for discussion.
“(It) would aim squarely at the root causes of homelessness,” Hammill said at the February meeting.
In a letter to the City Council dated Monday, March 1, Hammill said the new tax is necessary because “our community’s needs are far outpacing our resources” and the new coronavirus pandemic has worsened Bellingham’s housing crisis, especially for those without permanent housing.
“While we are making good strides on construction, funding for supportive services that keep people in housing are also in critically short supply. This measure, by supporting services as well as construction, would fill that gap,” Hammill said in his letter.
A public hearing isn’t required, but Hammill said it was important to hear the community’s opinions about the proposal.
$3 million annually
Such a tax could bring in $3 million a year for low-income housing and mental health services, Deputy Finance Director Forrest Longman told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
It amounts to an extra penny in tax on a $10 purchase.
Current sales tax rate in Bellingham is 8.7%, the same as in Ferndale, Lynden and Mount Vernon, according to the state Department of Revenue.
Seattle’s sales tax rate is 10.1%.
Cities can enact a sales tax for low-income housing under a law that passed the Democratic-controlled Legislature along partisan lines and was signed by Gov. Jay Inslee in 2020.
Supplement the Home Fund
Hammill’s proposed tax would supplement the Bellingham Home Fund, which is a property tax that collects 36 cents for every $1,000 of assessed value and directs it toward low-income housing and supportive services.
It raises about $4 million annually, the city said in 2018 when the measure passed with 67% of the vote.
It costs the owner of a $500,000 home $180 a year.
How to participate
You may comment on the proposed new tax:
▪ By mail at Council Office, 210 Lottie St., Bellingham, WA 98225.
▪ By email at ccmail@cob.org.
▪ By telephone at 360-778-8200.
▪ By fax at 360-778-8101.
To comment during Monday’s council meeting, use an online link to register beforehand, or to register during the meeting and then comment when called on. On the night of the meeting, go to zoom.us/join and enter meeting ID: 961 0694 7777 and password: 9 to access the meeting.
Early registration is encouraged, the city said in materials distributed for Monday’s meeting.
Meetings are broadcast live on BTV, the city’s public-access channel.
To listen by phone, dial 253-215-8782, 346-248-7799, 669-900-6833, 301-715-8592, 312-626-6799 or 929-205-6099.
