Commissioners kill mental health tax but slate public advisory vote

Sales tax finances drug court and several other mental health and behavioral health programs

All the expert pleading fell on deaf ears.

The Cowlitz County commissioners Tuesday rejected the overwhelming advice of local justice and municipal leaders by voting to terminate the mental health tax that supports Cowlitz County Drug Court.

As part of their action, the commissioners did agree to hold a non-binding November public advisory vote to gauge public support for reinstating the tax.

Drug court and other behavioral health programs the tax supports can continue for two years on $6 million in reserves already collected.  They won’t automatically die if the tax is not renewed by then, but they’d need other financial sources or have to compete for money from the county general fund.

For two months, local judges, police, drug treatment counselors and recovered addicts had advocated for renewing the tax. Drug Court, they said, offers a path to recovery that most addicts cannot find on their own. 

In addition, mayors of all five Cowlitz County cities sent the commissioners a joint letter in October urging them to extend the tax. The Longview and Kelso city councils endorsed the letter.

All that support could not sway commissioners Arne Mortensen and Rick Dahl.

It is arrogant presumption that the commissioners substituted their own ideologically driven judgment in place of the real-life experience of experts. What hubris. This is classic Mortensen, who acts and thinks like he’s smarter than everyone else.

Tuesday’s vote was technically unanimous. Commissioner Dennis Weber, a supporter of drug court, told me he would have voted against the motion had it not included his amendment for the public advisory vote. 

Weber said commissioners Mortensen and Dahl were set on terminating the tax anyway, and that there is enough money around for now to continue the programs.

Dahl and Mortensen don’t return requests for comment.

The mental health tax was scheduled to sunset after this year. The state Department of Revenue will continue to collect it until the end of March.

The 0.1 % sales tax — which costs consumers a penny on a $10 purchase, or $1 on a $1,000 purchase —  may only be used for mental health and drug addiction treatment. It hardly takes a big bite out of anyone’s wallet, and it supports programs that save taxpayers ample amounts of money.

The advisory vote on the tax will take place in the 2024 November general election, which should have a large turnout because the race for president is on the ballot.

The vote will not be binding on the future commissioners. The fall election could significantly change the three-member board. Weber is not seeking re-election. Mortensen faces re-election if he seeks a third four-year term. Dahl’s term runs through 2026.

Whether the tax should be reinstated likely will become a hotly debated campaign issue.

The mental health tax raises about $2.5 million annually.  Besides paying for the county’s drug and mental health courts, it finances drug and mental health treatment for Cowlitz County Jail inmates. It also funds the sheriff’s department behavioral health unit, which responds when individuals are in crises that call for specialized training.

Mortensen was surprised when he learned at a recent budget meeting that $6 million in mental health tax reserves are still available.

“Wow,” he said.

Drug court allows eligible defendants to enter a 12-month program of treatment and monitoring in exchange for staying out of jail and getting a dismissal of charges if they graduate. They go to jail if they repeatedly break the rules. 

The idea is to treat the underlying causes of crime and save present and future law and justice costs. Court officials say 70% of drug court graduates do not reoffend within three years.

Ninety-four participants were enrolled in Cowlitz Drug Court this week, and the program could expand if it had more staff, according to Adam Pithan, therapeutic courts administrator for the county.

Mortensen and Dahl’s objections to drug court and the mental health tax include its cost for struggling families. 

Mortensen argues that drug court violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment by allowing some drug defendants to avoid incarceration while others do not.  He also asserts that drug court enables law breakers and has not reduced the drug problem.

Dahl has said he dislikes spending public money on lawbreakers.

None of this makes sense.  It’s  far cheaper in the short and long run to treat and reform drug offenders than to jail them, and this should be a reason for conservatives like Dahl and Mortensen to support drug court. 

Mortensen’s constitutional argument is especially nonsensical. It ignores the fact that each criminal defendant has a unique history that warrants different justice. That’s one reason we have judges to impose sentences.

And asking Cowlitz Drug Court to solve the drug problem by itself would be like asking the Kelso Highlanders to beat the Seattle Seahawks. Drug court is one remedy, but it is not a magic wand.

It’s time these two commissioners remember that they are elected to represent all county residents, not just their conservative ideological base.

Look for my story Monday about how the city of Longview is coping with the skyocketing cost of jailing misdemeanor drug offenders.