North Sound tribe donates $400,000 to push Snohomish Co. tax

SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. — Not many entities can just write a check for $400,000, but a North Puget Sound tribe can and did.

The check was for Snohomish County, to support the campaign for a controversial new law enforcement tax.

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They may be small -- at just 300 members -- but don’t for a second underestimate the size of the Stillaguamish tribe’s heart and pockets.

“They’ve got a gas station open now that you passed on the way up here, they run a methadone clinic down below and a smoke shop and are looking at expanding,” explained tribal police chief Joe Orford.

But while the Stillaguamish is financially sound and growing rapidly, Orford says they are not immune to the heroin epidemic. Orford says it’s at the root of the majority of crime on the reservation.

“Just guessing it’s 80-percent in one way or another, whether it’s property crime -- they’re stealing to feed their habit, whether it’s drug dealing, using,” he told us.

So when Snohomish County Sheriff Ty Trenary approached Orford to ask for $100,000 to fund the campaign for a .2-percent sales tax hike, the tribal council voted to give him $400,000 instead.

The sheriff knows -- the tax certainly has its critics.

"I'm not a big new tax guy -- number one. But I think this is good for Snohomish County, I think it's good for communities, I think it puts the officers needed on the street," the sheriff told us.

Specifically, 35 new deputies for his department and more embedded social workers designed to get addicts into treatment instead of jail.

“Having them come back 15 or 16 times isn’t serving anyone’s best interest and I think it’s quite costly to the taxpayers,” the sheriff said of jailing repeat offenders.

That is why Orford says the tribe decided to give $400,000 -- in hopes of saving even more money and lives later.

“That’s what the $400,000 is for -- to get that PR out there ahead of time and let them know what we’re going to spend the money on, and this is exactly what the money is going to be spent on, so they can know and hopefully vote for it,” concluded Orford.

Cox Media Group