SPOKANE, Wash. – Spokane Transit Authority will ask voters to renew a sales tax that funds public transportation services after the agency’s board approved placing the measure on the August primary ballot.
The STA Board of Directors passed a resolution Wednesday to place the 0.2% sales and use tax renewal on the August 4, 2026, primary election ballot. The tax currently expires December 31, 2028, and generates two cents for every $10 spent on retail purchases.
The proposed renewal includes a 20-year sunset clause, expiring at the end of 2048 unless voters reauthorize it. Voters first approved the tax in 2016, bringing STA’s total voter-approved taxing authority to 0.8%.
Renewing the tax would maintain current service levels and support continued implementation of STA’s Connect 2035 strategic plan, adopted in December 2024.
“In 2016 the voters approved the funding mechanism behind STA Moving Forward, our original 10-year strategic plan to improve transit service in the region,” said STA CEO Karl Otterstrom. “STA has advanced the purposes and projects in the original plan, increasing bus service by over 35%. Subject to voter approval, a renewal of the 0.2% sales and use tax will ensure we can maintain the expanded service and system.”
Without the tax renewal, STA would face potential service cuts when the current funding expires.
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