TACOMA, Wash. — To address the behavioral health crisis in Pierce County, the County Council is considering adding a one-tenth of 1% sales tax.
Essentially, that means consumers would have to pay an extra penny for every $10 spent.
The county said the sales tax will provide for new or expanded mental health and substance abuse programs.
“The Pierce County Council declares and finds that Pierce County residents experience unacceptably high rates of untreated behavioral health disorders. People suffering from treatable medical conditions are disproportionately more likely to experience homelessness, develop physical health problems, or die by suicide. The Council also finds that left untreated, these illnesses increase social costs through first responder utilization, hospitalization, justice involvement, reduced work productivity, and child dependency,” the sales tax proposal read.
Pierce County is the lowest-performing region in the state for residents between the age of 12 and 17 who have substance use issues and who have received treatment for their substance use, according to Health Care Authority Medicaid Claims reports.
The county also performs below the state average for treating residents between 6 and 17 years of age who have a mental health diagnosis, the same report found. In the past four years, emergency room visits for children with behavioral or mental health diagnoses rose by 400 percent at the Mary Bridge’s Children’s Hospital, the county’s only pediatric hospital.
To help fight those statistics, the county said the sales tax will help:
- Establish a countywide coordinating body that will provide financial and program oversight.
- Invest in behavioral health education and early intervention and prevention.
- Provide training and resources to first responders dealing with those in a behavioral health crisis.
- Foster a network of service providers to meet the behavioral health needs of veterans and service members.
The public can weigh in on the measure on March 10 at the County-City Building (930 Tacoma Avenue S., Room 1045, Tacoma).
