Spokane Valley City Council Meeting July 7, 2026: Grants, Economic Report, Legislative Agenda
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Spokane Valley City Council Meeting - July 7, 2026
The Spokane Valley City Council held its regular meeting on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall. The meeting included presentations on ambulance transport costs and a major federal transportation grant, a proclamation for Parks & Recreation Month, public comments on several sensitive topics, a unanimous vote to apply for an RCO grant, and reports on the regional economy and the 2027 state legislative agenda.
Special Presentations
- Ambulance Transport Costs: Fire Chief Soto Jr. explained that the cost of an ambulance ride in Spokane County has risen by just over 400% over the last two years to $5,400, but stated that most patients are not paying that amount due to the state's 2024 balance billing act (effective January 1, 2025). He reported that over the last two years, the Spokane Valley Fire Department transported 27,000 patients; only 9% (roughly 2,400) could potentially receive the full bill, including 1,800 uninsured individuals and 2.7% with non-contracted insurance. He noted zero complaints about ambulance costs in the last two years. Councilmembers discussed the lack of competition, the role of self-funded insurance, and the inability to change providers. Fire District 9 began transports on July 1, 2026.
- Transportation Improvement Program: City Manager John Hohman announced a $20.8 million federal BUILD award for the Sullivan Trent interchange project. He highlighted previous awards: $9 million for Barker Road (2022) and $21.7 million for Pines (RAISE program). Over the last 10 years, the city has secured nearly $180 million for 90 projects. The city still needs $9.8 million in matching funds. Former Senator Mike Patton attended on behalf of Congressman Baumgartner, praising the city's planning and growth. Councilmembers congratulated staff, especially Adam Jackson, and noted the project was number one on an appropriations committee list.
Proclamation
- Mayor Laura Paddon proclaimed July 2026 as Parks & Recreation Month. Recreation intern Devin Weissman accepted and announced a Parks & Recreation Month Trivia Showdown on July 24 from 4–7 p.m. at the Spokane Valley Farmers Market, followed by an outdoor movie at Mirabeau Meadows. She also noted July 17 is National Parks and Recreation Professionals Day.
Mayor's Statement
- Mayor Paddon explained the rules for interrupting council members, including the proper use of a "point of order," and referred to an incident last week where a council member violated decorum.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Ben Lund (Spokane Valley resident) addressed Councilmember Merkel, citing approximately $600,000 in taxpayer legal costs related to public records and workplace harassment matters. He argued that continued appeal could cost another $200,000 and expose the city to over $1 million, and urged Merkel to resign.
- Kyle Mattson reported that a convicted sex offender had moved into a home at 607 University within sight of young children and near an elementary school. Deputy City Attorney Tony B.D. and Police Chief Dave Ellis responded that state law preempts local restrictions on sex offender residency; they had issued a press release to notify the community. Councilmembers discussed potential options, including business license conditions and adding the issue to the state legislative agenda.
- Joseph Godsee (Spokane Valley resident and water district commissioner) argued that ambulance services are a "competition abhorrent natural monopoly" and should be a public good. He suggested the city create its own ambulance service, noting that the 10% who pay full price are often those who cannot afford insurance.
Action Items
- RCO Grant Application for Edgecliffe Park: Parks and Recreation Director John Bottelli asked the council to authorize staff to apply for an RCO planning grant to develop a renovation master plan for Edgecliffe Park. The grant would require no matching funds. Councilmember Kelly asked if there were any strings attached; Bottelli said no unusual conditions. Councilmember Merkel expressed concern about the phrase "end of its life cycle" for the park. The motion passed unanimously. Public comment from Joseph Godsee, a neighbor, supported the grant and requested volunteers to gather signatures by July 15 to show community support.
Discussion Items
- EWU Economic Trends Report: Teri Stripes introduced new Economic Development Specialist Kyle Knutson. Dr. Jones and Dr. Kelly Cullen presented. Key findings: Spokane Valley's population grew by only 600 people to 110,800 (0.5% growth), the slowest since incorporation; the city remains the 8th largest in the state. The civilian labor force is about 53,765, and employment is over 51,000. Unemployment fell from 5.2% in January to 4.2% in May 2026, below the state rate of 4.8%. Single-family permit values dropped slightly from $404,000 to $385,000; multifamily permitting spiked in Q2 2025 but had zero permits in Q3 2025. Apartment vacancy is 5.7%. Median home resale price flattened to around $400,000. About 30% of renters are "extremely housing burdened" (spending 50%+ of income on housing). Dr. Cullen praised the city's data transparency.
- Hazard Mitigation Plan Update: Virginia Clough, Legislative Policy Coordinator, reported that the 2026 Spokane County Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) is in final review and needs formal adoption by resolution next week. Councilmember Yeager asked about a Hurricane Katrina reference in the county hazard history; Clough said she would investigate. Councilmember Merkel asked whether the county was billing the city for emergency management services; City Manager Hohman acknowledged billing issues and said costs may rise from under $100,000 to nearly $200,000.
- 2027 State Legislative Agenda: State lobbyist Brianna Murray presented a draft agenda. She said the 2027 session will face a $4 billion budget shortfall, and the transportation budget is also constrained. The draft capital request is $600,000 for the Flora Park Riverview Trail and Wildfire Risk Reduction. Transportation requests include $1 million for the Spokane Regional Traffic Management Center (ongoing), $2.9 million for Barker Road I-90 interchange design, and $7.5 million for the Sullivan Trent interchange. Councilmembers discussed wildfire risk reduction as a policy priority, the TPA sunset issue (Councilmember Wick noted only about three entities use the fee), and potential harmonization of public safety sales tax laws (Councilmember Wood). Murray will refine the draft and return August 18, with adoption planned in September.
Key Outcomes
- Authorized staff to apply for the RCO planning grant for Edgecliffe Park (unanimous).
- Consensus to bring the Hazard Mitigation Plan adoption resolution to next week's meeting.
- Consensus to send thank-you letters to the federal delegation and Secretary of Transportation for the BUILD award, and to sign a letter of support for the Hutchinson Irrigation District's Vista Road waterline replacement.
- Motion to extend the meeting to 9:20 p.m. passed.
- Motion to adjourn passed unanimously.
Council Comments
- Councilmember Merkel gave a personal timeline alleging harassment and retaliation since his election, including a "witch hunt" and a proposed court order restricting his speech.
- Councilmembers Haley and Yeager disputed Merkel's account, detailing the court's summary judgment against him and the $600,000 in legal costs. They stated the court found he failed to comply with the Public Records Act.
- Councilmember Wick reported on the AWC conference, MRSC fee increases (4.9% for small works roster), and his election as MRSC board president.
- City Manager Hohman made closing comments on the personnel investigation and the importance of thank-you letters for federal grants.
Meeting Transcript
So the Spokane Valley City Council regular meeting, formal B format of Tuesday, July seventh, twenty twenty six is now called to order. We will start with an invitation uh from Mike Drew from Valley Assembly Church. If you please standards, Heavenly Father, we thank you that you have given us unalienable rights that don't come from men and they don't come from government, but they come from you. And Lord, you also give us responsibilities. And Lord, as those that lead our city today, we pray that you would give them wisdom that you would give them insight, Lord, as they deal with difficult challenges and interesting problems that you'd give them the very mind that they need and the insight, Lord, to see beyond their natural wisdom. So today we unite together in this chamber. Amen. Thank you, and please join in the Pledge of Allegiance. Aye. Opposed. The agenda is approved. Uh we have a number of special guests and presentations here today. About the cost. So first, uh a little bit of background. Um as you know, the last two years we've seen the cost of an ambo ride here in Spokane County go up by uh just over 400% uh and another, I believe, uh 100% uh uh-ish on the on the rides. Um but again uh what I really want to explain is currently right now, most people that we transport are not paying $5,400. So here's here's the whole um the whole misinformation. I know that people are running around going, we're paying $5,400, we're paying $5,400, but we're not. Um in fact, in the last two years since we've had our own contract with AMR, we've received zero, zero complaints about the cost of an ambulance ride. Now, why is this? That's a great question. Back in 2020, the state of Washington introduced the the original balance billing act, and that came into effect as the same time as the No Surprises Act for the federal government, also in 2020. The problem with both of these acts is neither one of them covered out-of-network ambulance transports, ground ambulance transports. And that's what we're talking about. So in 2024, at the legislative session, it was introduced out of network ground ambulances were brought into uh as an addendum to the uh original RCW, and it passed in 2024 during the legislative session, went into effect January 1st, 2025. And the the reason that this is hugely important is because what that does is it takes away the $5,400, if you will, to a point. So anybody who is self not self-insured, but has full are fully insured. If you are fully insured, you have Medicaid, you have Medicare, you are only paying your portion, your co-pay, your uh deductible, your coinsurance, you're only paying that amount. The rest of that bill, the ambulance service has to eat. We're not we're not paying that. That's what the balance billing act is for, and that's why it's covering uh the ambulance trip. Now, there is a small percentage. So to give you a specific number, over the last two years, the Spokane Valley Fire Department has transported just over 27,000 patients. Of the 27,000 patients, 9%, only 9% would fall into the category of potentially paying the $5,400. So that's roughly $2,400 customers that went to the hospital and may receive the whole bill. And why? Because most of those people, uh, 1,800 of them have no insurance. They're just not insured. So they could potentially reach get received the whole bill. The other remaining number are non-contracted uh uh insurance. So meaning their company may have an insurance uh let's use an example, a large company like your Amazon uh that that would be paying $80 to $100 million a year for insurance decides to be a uh self-funded um insurance. In that case, they have to they have to um sign on with the state or sign a contract in order to reduce that amount that you may or may not pay if you're if you are contracted with them. That number though of our transports is 2.7%. So we're talking about a very, very small number. Most of our um transports are are covered under the balance billing act. So I just want to assure you that that even if they continue to go up, they're not gonna get any more out of the insurance companies, Medicaid, Medicare. Those numbers are set, and that's it, period. They pay what they pay, and you are not gonna get a surprise bill with what's left. Um questions. Well, you know, actually, let me before I go into that, as an example, that's why I I put this here so you can kind of see what I'm talking about.
openpublica.com