Langley officials are once again considering a public safety sales tax.

The topic resurfaced during a city council meeting this week, with unanimous approval for a resolution authorizing a submission for a proposal in the increase in city sales tax of 0.1%, which would bring in an estimated $51,000 annually. Voters will have the chance to accept or reject the new tax when it appears on the November ballot.

Councilmember Chris Carlson first brought the tax up in June when the council was searching for ways to bridge an anticipated budget shortfall of nearly $50,000 in the first quarter of 2025.

According to the resolution, at least one-third of all money collected with the tax must be used solely for criminal justice purposes, which includes district court, public defender and prosecuting attorney services as well as recruitment, retention, training and equipping of the city’s law enforcement officers.

If approved, the proposition would raise Langley’s sales tax rate to 8.9%.

“I think we must make the community aware of the realities of the city’s financial situation and let them decide whether this is an appropriate first step,” Carlson said Monday.

Councilmember Craig Cyr wondered when the new tax would go into effect; Finance Director Wanda Grone said she thought April 2025. Cyr pointed out that it is the jurisdiction’s responsibility to find groups of citizens who are in favor and against the initiative to write pro and con statements for the voters’ guide.

Although Mayor Kennedy Horstman initially showed hesitancy about getting the tax on the November ballot in time, her opinion has since shifted.

“I think that we have been discussing this pretty consistently in city council meetings,” she said. “I think there’s been good coverage of it.”

If they delay, Carlson worried about Island County commissioners approving a resolution at the county level that would jeopardize the chance of the city being able to collect a share, which Grone agreed would be a nominal share.