Spokane Valley officials told the City Council on March 4 that recently completed collective-bargaining negotiations for deputies will raise sheriff’s-office costs materially and that the city must plan for those increases in 2026 and 2027.

Eric, a staff presenter, said preliminary estimates received recently show an increase of roughly $2.3 million for the full sheriff’s office in 2025, an additional $1.1 million in 2026 and about $880,000 in 2027. Staff estimated Spokane Valley’s share of the three-year increase at about $4.8 million. “I think the big takeaway from this is we’re looking at, dollars 4,800,000 over the next 3 years,” Eric said.

The council also heard a Public Safety Committee recommendation for a possible “phase 2” staffing addition: seven positions consisting of four patrol deputies, one school resource officer, one sexual-assault detective (shared cost) and one behavioral-health deputy. Staff estimated recurring costs for those seven positions at about $1.38 million and one-time vehicle and equipment costs around $390,000. The committee emphasized the recommendation was contingent on identifying funding.

Council members raised concerns about the portion of county charges that come from indirect-cost allocations—the county’s administrative overhead that is apportioned to the law-enforcement contract. Morgan Koudelka and John Pietro, the city’s analysts, explained the county applies multiple allocation bases (FTE, vehicles, total costs) to distribute indirect charges. Council members asked staff to probe significant year‑to‑year increases the county has reported in indirect rates and to seek backup documentation.

John Holman and Eric told the council the city and county have agreed to hire an outside accounting firm to review settlement/adjust procedures and indirect-cost allocations; that contract is expected to be about $30,000 and is intended to identify methodology improvements, potential savings and clearer reconciliation processes. Chief Ellis explained that sheriff‑office pay comparability and binding arbitration rules help set the contract outcome and that recruiting and closing vacancy gaps had required higher starting pay in recent years.

Council directed staff to continue refining cost estimates for the collective-bargaining impacts, analyze funding options for any staffing increases, and return with more detail on the county indirect rates and the outside consultant’s findings.