Friday, October 2, 2026
WENATCHEE — The Wenatchee City Council on Wednesday approved a one-tenth of 1 percent sales tax for criminal-justice purposes, saying it’s the fairest way to keep police and court services at current levels as costs surge for contracts the city can’t control.
The new tax — authorized by the Legislature earlier this year and adopted locally by ordinance, not by public vote — raises Wenatchee’s sales tax from 8.8% to 8.9% starting April 1, 2026. Finance Director Brad Posenjak said that’s equal to 10 cents on every $100 spent, or about $20 a year for a typical Wenatchee household.
“It puts this tax burden on anybody who does business within the city limits of Wenatchee,” Posenjak said. “Visitors, commuters, and shoppers from outside the city will help pay for the services they also benefit from.”
Getting the same $1.2 million in 2026 from property tax alone, he said, would have cost about $135 a year on a $500,000 home, and would have been an amount that only city property owners would pay.
Posenjak told council the city’s routine 4–5% annual revenue growth can’t keep up with steep increases in justice-system costs:
“With all of these things, we need a long-term solution so we can maintain our current level of service,” he said.
Police Chief Edgar Reinfeld told the council the department can meet the state certification requirements tied to the new tax. “We’ll be prepared to engage that process if it’s adopted,” he said, adding that Wenatchee’s accredited-agency status makes compliance straightforward.
Downtown business owner Josh Tarr, of American Shoe Shop and chair of the Wenatchee Downtown Association, told council he doesn’t like taxes but supports this one.
“I am sick and tired of being taxed to death,” Tarr said, humorously echoing a familiar refrain of voters in this area. “But this proposed one-tenth of one percent sales-tax increase for public safety is a good idea — and one I fully support as a citizen and business owner in the city of Wenatchee.”
He pointed to confusion around a different sales-tax measure voters rejected earlier this year — one intended for street funding — after many residents mistakenly linked it to the fate of a local burger restaurant. “When you somehow connect a sales-tax initiative to the closing of a well-known burger joint, this is simply just being misinformed,” Tarr said.
“This is no time to neglect public safety the way the voters recently chose to neglect our roads,” he added. “If both this and the previous voter-rejected sales tax were enacted, Wenatchee would only be at an average state rate — and currently we’re below.”
Tarr is mostly correct: The average sales tax in Washington State is currently at 9.5%, meaning that even if the last measure had been approved before this one, Wenatchee would still be half a percent lower than that statewide average.
Councilmember Linda Herald said she also dislikes tax increases but voted yes because the city needs to keep pace with basic service costs.
“These costs are not going to go away,” she said. “It’s very important that we pass this ordinance. Otherwise, we’re going to have to not only lose police officers but cut other services. There is a cost for government services.”
Posenjak emphasized the same point: “This isn’t about raising revenue for new programs,” he said. “It’s about paying today’s price for the same services our residents already expect.”
Council also approved its annual 1% property-tax increase. That’s the maximum the state allows without a vote. That increase applies only to the city’s portion of a property-tax bill, not to the full amount that also funds schools, the county, and other districts.
That means that on a $500,000 home in Wenatchee, the total property-tax bill would rise by about $4.50 due to this increase.
Posenjak noted the city could have raised it more: Wenatchee has about $1.8 million in “banked capacity,” unused taxing authority from past years when the city increased less than the full 1% allowed. Council chose not to draw on that capacity.
Most of the city’s property-tax revenue — roughly $3.9 million of $5.2 million total — goes to street maintenance. Smaller portions go toward city-hall bond payments and general operations.
Both the sales-tax and property-tax measures passed unanimously.
Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media
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