Airway Heights calls for tax hike to hire more police and increase public safety efforts

Airway Heights voters will decide next month whether to raise property taxes to increase policing in line with the city’s rapid population growth.

The Airway Heights City Council decided in April to ask voters about the tax in the Aug. 6 primary election.

Over the past five years, calls for assistance in Airway Heights have increased by 133%, while the number of patrol officers has remained at 14.

Because each officer responds to about 1,500 emergency calls per year, police must prioritize 911 calls and give low priority to nonviolent crimes such as vandalism, traffic violations and theft, Airway Heights officials say.

“It ties our hands; we are so reactive by nature,” said Police Chief Brad Richmond. “We can’t be proactive and we would like to have a more proactive presence in our community to go after some of these traffickers and criminal behaviors.”

The tax would allow the city to hire four new police officers for the department, said Albert Tripp, Airway Heights’ city manager.

“We respond to a lot of calls,” Richmond said, but if voters support the proposal, “passing this public safety levy would give us more freedom to help the community.”

The tax would cover the funds needed to maintain public safety standards in addition to the Police Department’s current budget of $4.9 million.

“The feedback we have received is testament to the community’s desire to keep public safety services up to speed with population growth, and that is exactly the goal of this proposal,” Tripp said.

Richmond and Tripp highlighted the community feedback the city collected last year.

“We have heard loud and clear from the public that they want city services, especially public safety, to keep pace with population growth,” Tripp said.

Tripp said the tax increase could also finance 18 to 20 new patrol cars.

“Currently, we have no way to pay for patrol cars with renewable energy, so officers are driving the cars well beyond their useful life, resulting in even higher monthly and annual payments,” Tripp said.

Disused patrol cars and other outdated technology and equipment limit officers’ ability to serve the community, Tripp said.

Taxes would increase by $1 per $1,000 of property value. That means the cost to the owner of a $400,000 property in Airway Heights would be $400 per year. This property tax rate is lower than most neighboring areas.

The proposal marks the first time the city has requested a tax increase specifically for its police department, Richmond said. The city’s population grew 5% from 2020 to 2022. It grew another 7% in 2023.

Calls to Airway Heights police for traffic-related incidents increased 37.6% between 2018 and 2021, and property crimes increased 15.5%, with sharp increases in suspicious vehicles, thefts, trespassing and vehicle thefts during the same period, Tripp said.

According to Tripp, the city expects these crimes to continue to increase as more people move to the city.

Richmond believes the tax will help curb the fentanyl crisis. Department officials and clinicians help people facing drug addiction, and the tax increase would help expand those efforts, he said.

“We want to help protect our families from these deadly drug traffickers, but also offer help to those struggling with substance abuse,” Richmond said.

Richmond expressed hope that the community has noticed the department’s efforts to build trust through working with children, youth and families in their communities.

“We want to do everything we can to help these affected families,” Richmond said. “They deserve it.”