This week’s Spokane Valley City Council meeting began with an invocation, the pledge of allegiance and approval of the following meeting agenda.
PROCLAMATION
Mayor Padden presented a proclamation for National Police Week to Chief Dave Ellis of the Spokane Valley Police Department.
General Public Comments
Each week, community members have an opportunity to address Councilmembers for up to three minutes during the General Public Comment period, either at the beginning or end of each meeting, either in person or via Zoom.
ACTION ITEMS
#1 – Consent Agenda
The Council unanimously approved the consent agenda, which included vouchers for paying city expenses and payroll.
#2 – Public Hearing: 2026 Budget Amendment
An administrative report on this topic was presented to Council at the May 5, 2026, meeting. The 2026 Budget was adopted by the Council on Dec. 9, 2025. Since then, a number of events have occurred leading to the need for a budget amendment. Staff provided details of the changes to the nine funds affected. The result is a total revenue increase of $5,348,800 and total expenditure increase of $6,960,167. Of these increases, $1,950,000 reflects transfers between city funds. Staff reported that sufficient funds are available to pay for the amendments.
#3 – First Reading: Ordinance 26-007: 2026 Budget Amendment
Related to agenda item #2, a motion to advance Ordinance 26-007 amending the 2026 Budget to a second reading did not pass with the required super majority with 4 votes in favor and 3 votes against. Staff will bring additional information to the May 26, 2026, Council meeting for additional discussion and another first reading.
#4 – Motion Consideration: Resolution 26-006 to authorize Opportunity Zone Designation Application and Letter of Support
The Council received an administrative report on this topic at the April 28, 2026, meeting. Federal Opportunity Zone (OZ) legislation was enacted in 2017, which designates eligible census tracts for various tax incentives to boost economic development within the tract. Additional legislation passed in 2025 made OZ permanent, with set designation cycles every 10 years. There are five eligible census tracts within the city, but only one can receive a designation. Staff determined that census Tract 123 demonstrates the strongest need for investment and also contains properly zoned land available for development.
A motion to approve Resolution 26-006 authorizing the City Manager, or designee, to submit an Opportunity Zone designation application and Letter of Support to the Department of Commerce for Tract 123 passed unanimously.
NON-ACTION ITEMS
#5 – Parks and Recreation Master Plan 2026 Update
|The Spokane Valley Parks and Recreation Master Plan is a long-range plan that identifies key initiatives and implementation strategies to guide Spokane Valley’s Parks and Recreation projects and services for the upcoming six to 10 or more years.
City staff and contracted consultant staff reviewed:
• Goals of the plan
• How the plan aligns with other key city planning efforts
• Inventory of park facilities and assets and assessment methodology
• Summary of public outreach efforts
• Needs identified from public input received at eight outreach events and a website survey
• Plan themes and major recommendations
The draft plan is posted on the city website for public comment through May 26. The Council will be asked to adopt the updated plan at a future date.
#6 – Affordable and Supportive Housing (1406) Funds Discussion
State law permits local jurisdictions to impose local state-shared sales and use tax to fund affordable and supportive housing. In 2020, the Council authorized the City to begin collecting this tax, which is a rebate of the state sales tax to cities and counties. Approximately $200,000 per year is collected by the City and the fund balance is expected to be about $1.4 million by the end of 2026. By state law, these funds may only be used to support affordable housing within the city or for rental assistance as follows:
• Acquiring, rehabilitating or constructing affordable housing for those at or below 60% Area Media Income (AMI), which includes affordable home ownership assistance for households earning up to 80% AMI.
• Operations and maintenance costs of new units of affordable or supportive housing.
• Rental and move-in cost assistance for those at or below 60% AMI.
• Up to 10% of the annual tax collected may be used towards the funding and contracts administration costs.
The Spokane Valley Homeless Housing Task Force has discussed possible uses of the funds at multiple meetings. At their last meeting, the Task Force received presentations from four area providers with suggestions of how funds could be utilized. The Task Force unanimously recommended that the City should issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit applications for rental assistance, affordable housing projects, down payment assistance, land acquisition and operations and maintenance of affordable housing projects.
The Council reached consensus to issue an RFP to utilize a portion of the available Affordable and Supportive Sales Tax funds in fund #108.
About Spokane Valley City Council
City Council meetings occur most Tuesdays at 6 p.m. at Spokane Valley City Hall, 10210 E. Sprague Avenue, Spokane Valley, and online via Zoom. Meeting agendas and minutes are available at SpokaneValleyWA.gov/Agendas. Community members are invited to attend Council meetings to participate in action items or public comment periods in-person or online. Council meetings are broadcast on Comcast channel 14. Email the Council at CityCouncil@SpokaneValleyWA.gov or learn more at SpokaneValleyWA.gov/CityCouncil.
Stay Connected
Spokane Valley City Hall is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Information is available online at SpokaneValleyWA.gov. Sign up to receive email updates about the topics that matter to you most at SpokaneValleyWA.gov/SignUp or follow the city on social media.