Woodland Police Sgt. Jim Keller patrols the city Aug. 21, 2018.
The City of Woodland is eyeing an increase to its property tax levy in order to increase police staff as the growing city has growing public safety needs, according to past studies and current police staff.
Council voted to approve a ballot measure for the November election that would see a close to 63-cent per $1,000 of assessed value increase to its property tax levy during their July 15 meeting. The increase would allow for the hiring of three additional staff for the department as well as necessary equipment needed with the increase, according to the approved resolution.
The levy lid lift is similar, though slightly less, than a previous ballot measure that voters defeated in 2017, missing approval by only 18 votes, according to the Washington Secretary of State website. That measure followed the work of an advisory committee tasked with looking at public safety needs in the city, one of several attempts by the city to examine what an ideal police department would look like in terms of personnel numbers given the city’s size and crime rate.
At the meeting, Woodland Police Sergeant Jim Keller testified in favor of the lid lift. He said the last position created for the department was in 2007, bringing the number of staff to 10. He said that year the U.S. Census Bureau put the city’s population at 5,135 — in 2017 that number was 6,138.
In 2015 then-chief Phil Crochet was tasked with assessing the department’s needs, Keller said. The chief’s findings were that given the population and crime rate the department should have a staff of 14 — after him, interim police chief Garry Lucas recommended a staffing of 16 in his own report.
A report by current chief Jim Kelly at the time of the 2017 measure agreed with advisory committee findings, suggesting a staffing of two additional officers and an administrative sergeant. He also recommended increasing the bonuses for lateral officer transfers (where trained personnel moves from one department to another) though that was not included in the approved resolution.
Keller said that Ridgefield, a city with a crime rate 40% less than the national average, was adding on average an officer per year for the next five years. He said Woodland had a crime rate more than 150% over the national average.
“I’m not only looking out for the citizens, which is my job; I’m looking out for my guys,” Keller said. He noted that in the past few rotations he has been on the job Woodland has had to request assistance from nearby departments to handle calls that come in when all of the city’s officers are on priority calls.
Keller noted he would have to pay more should the lift go through as he is a city resident.
“This levy lid lift will affect how much I have to pay, and you better believe that I’m going to vote for it, to make sure the citizens are safe and make sure my guys are safe,” Keller remarked.
The lid lift is projected to raise annual property taxes by about $188 for a $300,000 home. The ballot measure will be on the Nov. 5 ballot.
