'Therapeutic' advisory vote: is tax increase a beneficial investment?
Nov. 3 ballot measure not binding, but may gauge public sentiment.
Updated
Manny Garcia (at right), a resource specialist with Grant County Community Court, congratulated the program's most recent graduate during an Oct. 21 hearing at the courthouse in Ephrata. The GCCC is one of Washington state's designated "therapeutic courts" which provide multiple rehabilitative services to reduce repeat offenses by defendants in the criminal justice system. Photo by Randy Bracht
EPHRATA — Recently, a woman notified local police that someone was stealing her coin collection. Also, she knew about decapitated bodies in Ephrata.
Aware of the woman’s ongoing mental health issues, officers advised they would document her claims which, like prior ones, were determined to be unfounded.
Police also receive regular reports about a local man who, among other things, has complained he is being paralyzed by psychics and ghosts, that Bill Gates and Donald Trump are tapping his phone, and people from Europe are entering through a skylight to place random objects in his home before he wakes up. Officers return the man’s phone calls but he rarely answers.
Similarly, the Grant County Sheriff’s Office periodically hears from a woman who, among other unfounded claims, once said she was sexually assaulted by eight to 12 armed Serbians dressed in black acting on the orders of her mother.
Or it may be the oblivious pedestrian walking in and out of traffic, waving their arms and yelling incoherently for reasons unknown.
While seemingly random, these are no longer isolated incidents for area law enforcement, first responders, and county MACC 911 dispatchers. They handle repeated reports from some individuals with known behavioral challenges while also seeing increased calls about distressed persons contemplating self-harm or threatening others.
Multiple factors may be involved and intertwined — drug or alcohol use, social media pressures, dysfunctional family settings, physical or sexual abuse, poverty, joblessness, homelessness, related criminal activity, and more.
Given all that, what’s the continuing impact, fiscal and societal, on responses from public agencies and service providers?
That’s the question behind an advisory vote on the Nov. 3 election ballot sought by Grant County commissioners Kevin Burgess, Cindy Carter, and Rob Jones.
Voters are being asked whether they would support a 0.1% sales tax increase with revenue dedicated to therapeutic courts, chemical dependency and mental health treatment programs and facilities.
“Personally, this is an easy ‘yes’ for me,” Burgess said earlier this month. “(But) we decided to put this out to the citizens of Grant County for a vote. Our thoughts are: the economy is not great, the cost of living is high, so we chose to put it out to citizens first.”
Nonetheless, Burgess believes the needs are real.
“You see across the nation the mental health issues we are having. This doesn’t just affect poor people or the homeless; it also affects people with money and popular people. It doesn’t discriminate,” he said.
Burgess said funds could be available for Renew, Grant County’s behavioral health provider. Among other services, Renew has professional co-responders who work with law enforcement to assist in urgent de-escalation and mental health crises.
The Washington Department of Health recently implemented an online “data dashboard” which tracks contacts made with the state’s 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. It shows the number of routed calls, texts, and chats statewide has increased from about 10,000 in July 2022 to over 25,000 through September 2026 — a sign of more people seeking access to crisis services.
State law allows the sales tax increase for counties and municipalities to support local mental health services and therapeutic courts. If enacted, it would add one penny to the cost of every $10 purchase.
According to the Washington Department of Revenue, the current sales-and-use tax in unincorporated Grant County is 8.2%. Estimates vary, but a 0.1% increase could generate between $1.24 million and $2.7 million annually in dedicated revenue.
Burgess said any funding would likely involve an application process subject to approval by the board of commissioners and the county’s accounting department.
The tax hike is “more than just funding,” says Amy Paynter, coordinator for Grant County’s Community Court. Initiated in 2023 and presided over by District Court Judge Brian Gwinn, the community court program involves placing qualifying repeat criminal offenders with underlying behavioral issues in a minimum year-long, intensive rehabilitation program. The court celebrated its 24th graduate earlier this month.
Implementing the tax “would be an investment to strengthen public safety, support recovery, and reduce long-term justice system costs,” said Paynter. She said therapeutic courts are becoming more established in Washington, and statistics show program participation reduces recidivism — a return to crime — by 38 to 50%.
In monetary terms, therapeutic court participants cost about $2,500 to $4,000 a year compared to costs of $20,000 to $50,000 for incarcerated persons, she said.
Continued funding of Grant County’s Community Court, which operates with Paynter and two case managers, is uncertain. The program has relied on annual allocations from the state Administrative Office of the Courts, currently just over $280,000 for two positions through June 2027. A third position has been funded by federal dollars due to expire at the end of this year. The court was recently awarded $130,000 as a share of a state settlement with opioid providers, but Paynter said the money is earmarked for drug testing of program participants who lack insurance.
“Ultimately, we have been able to operate year-to-year, and we have enough to survive until June 2027,” she said. “We continue to seek other funding opportunities (but) personnel costs are the hardest to secure.”
Kim Pope, director of the New Hope/Kid’s Hope advocacy center in Moses Lake, says the myriad of factors which can contribute to behavioral, mental health, and substance use “are not separate problems with separate consequences.”
“They are connected parts of the same public-health and public-safety system,” said Pope, whose center operates a 24-hour crisis line and provides free, confidential services for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and other crimes.
“When behavioral-health and chemical dependency needs go unmet, the impact is felt throughout the community,” said Pope. She also spoke of “investing in coordinated partnerships among treatment providers, medical providers, schools, law enforcement, courts, child welfare, and victim-service organizations.”
“If funding becomes available, we would encourage a transparent, community-informed process that prioritizes gaps in care, and ensures that services are accessible across Grant County, including all rural communities,” she said.
The cost versus success of therapeutic courts recently surfaced as an issue in local election campaigns. During a forum earlier this month in Ephrata, sheriff candidate Darrik Gregg and superior court judicial candidate Ken Chadwick voiced some reservations about the relative value of such programs. Their respective opponents, Joey Kriete and Trevor Bevier, felt the county’s community court program has been beneficial to date.
Pope believes the strongest community response is one that “combines compassion with accountability and prevention with intervention.”
Providing early support to families and victims, she said, can “reduce harm, improve health outcomes, lessen pressures on emergency and justice systems, and create better opportunities for recovery.”
A guide to multiple behavioral and wellness services is offered through the county's provider, Renew.
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'Therapeutic' advisory vote: is tax increase a beneficial investment?
Nov. 3 ballot measure not binding, but may gauge public sentiment.
EPHRATA — Recently, a woman notified local police that someone was stealing her coin collection. Also, she knew about decapitated bodies in Ephrata.
Aware of the woman’s ongoing mental health issues, officers advised they would document her claims which, like prior ones, were determined to be unfounded.
Police also receive regular reports about a local man who, among other things, has complained he is being paralyzed by psychics and ghosts, that Bill Gates and Donald Trump are tapping his phone, and people from Europe are entering through a skylight to place random objects in his home before he wakes up. Officers return the man’s phone calls but he rarely answers.
Similarly, the Grant County Sheriff’s Office periodically hears from a woman who, among other unfounded claims, once said she was sexually assaulted by eight to 12 armed Serbians dressed in black acting on the orders of her mother.
Or it may be the oblivious pedestrian walking in and out of traffic, waving their arms and yelling incoherently for reasons unknown.
While seemingly random, these are no longer isolated incidents for area law enforcement, first responders, and county MACC 911 dispatchers. They handle repeated reports from some individuals with known behavioral challenges while also seeing increased calls about distressed persons contemplating self-harm or threatening others.
Multiple factors may be involved and intertwined — drug or alcohol use, social media pressures, dysfunctional family settings, physical or sexual abuse, poverty, joblessness, homelessness, related criminal activity, and more.
Given all that, what’s the continuing impact, fiscal and societal, on responses from public agencies and service providers?
That’s the question behind an advisory vote on the Nov. 3 election ballot sought by Grant County commissioners Kevin Burgess, Cindy Carter, and Rob Jones.
Voters are being asked whether they would support a 0.1% sales tax increase with revenue dedicated to therapeutic courts, chemical dependency and mental health treatment programs and facilities.
“Personally, this is an easy ‘yes’ for me,” Burgess said earlier this month. “(But) we decided to put this out to the citizens of Grant County for a vote. Our thoughts are: the economy is not great, the cost of living is high, so we chose to put it out to citizens first.”
Nonetheless, Burgess believes the needs are real.
“You see across the nation the mental health issues we are having. This doesn’t just affect poor people or the homeless; it also affects people with money and popular people. It doesn’t discriminate,” he said.
Burgess said funds could be available for Renew, Grant County’s behavioral health provider. Among other services, Renew has professional co-responders who work with law enforcement to assist in urgent de-escalation and mental health crises.
The Washington Department of Health recently implemented an online “data dashboard” which tracks contacts made with the state’s 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. It shows the number of routed calls, texts, and chats statewide has increased from about 10,000 in July 2022 to over 25,000 through September 2026 — a sign of more people seeking access to crisis services.
State law allows the sales tax increase for counties and municipalities to support local mental health services and therapeutic courts. If enacted, it would add one penny to the cost of every $10 purchase.
According to the Washington Department of Revenue, the current sales-and-use tax in unincorporated Grant County is 8.2%. Estimates vary, but a 0.1% increase could generate between $1.24 million and $2.7 million annually in dedicated revenue.
Burgess said any funding would likely involve an application process subject to approval by the board of commissioners and the county’s accounting department.
The tax hike is “more than just funding,” says Amy Paynter, coordinator for Grant County’s Community Court. Initiated in 2023 and presided over by District Court Judge Brian Gwinn, the community court program involves placing qualifying repeat criminal offenders with underlying behavioral issues in a minimum year-long, intensive rehabilitation program. The court celebrated its 24th graduate earlier this month.
Implementing the tax “would be an investment to strengthen public safety, support recovery, and reduce long-term justice system costs,” said Paynter. She said therapeutic courts are becoming more established in Washington, and statistics show program participation reduces recidivism — a return to crime — by 38 to 50%.
In monetary terms, therapeutic court participants cost about $2,500 to $4,000 a year compared to costs of $20,000 to $50,000 for incarcerated persons, she said.
Continued funding of Grant County’s Community Court, which operates with Paynter and two case managers, is uncertain. The program has relied on annual allocations from the state Administrative Office of the Courts, currently just over $280,000 for two positions through June 2027. A third position has been funded by federal dollars due to expire at the end of this year. The court was recently awarded $130,000 as a share of a state settlement with opioid providers, but Paynter said the money is earmarked for drug testing of program participants who lack insurance.
“Ultimately, we have been able to operate year-to-year, and we have enough to survive until June 2027,” she said. “We continue to seek other funding opportunities (but) personnel costs are the hardest to secure.”
Kim Pope, director of the New Hope/Kid’s Hope advocacy center in Moses Lake, says the myriad of factors which can contribute to behavioral, mental health, and substance use “are not separate problems with separate consequences.”
“They are connected parts of the same public-health and public-safety system,” said Pope, whose center operates a 24-hour crisis line and provides free, confidential services for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and other crimes.
“When behavioral-health and chemical dependency needs go unmet, the impact is felt throughout the community,” said Pope. She also spoke of “investing in coordinated partnerships among treatment providers, medical providers, schools, law enforcement, courts, child welfare, and victim-service organizations.”
“If funding becomes available, we would encourage a transparent, community-informed process that prioritizes gaps in care, and ensures that services are accessible across Grant County, including all rural communities,” she said.
The cost versus success of therapeutic courts recently surfaced as an issue in local election campaigns. During a forum earlier this month in Ephrata, sheriff candidate Darrik Gregg and superior court judicial candidate Ken Chadwick voiced some reservations about the relative value of such programs. Their respective opponents, Joey Kriete and Trevor Bevier, felt the county’s community court program has been beneficial to date.
Pope believes the strongest community response is one that “combines compassion with accountability and prevention with intervention.”
Providing early support to families and victims, she said, can “reduce harm, improve health outcomes, lessen pressures on emergency and justice systems, and create better opportunities for recovery.”