Spokane eyes harsher penalties for littering after clearing 2.79M pounds since 2023
(The Center Square) – As Spokane grapples with more trash and junk vehicles on its streets, Mayor Lisa Brown proposed an ordinance on Friday aligning city code with state law around illegal dumping.
The Brown administration announced the proposal alongside a new dashboard detailing cleanup efforts. The city broke down its metrics between two graphs: one tracks the amount of garbage picked up, while the other tracks the number of sites cleaned up.
According to the dashboard, Code Enforcement staff and two Spokane Police Department officers picked up over 1.6 million pounds of trash throughout 2023 and nearly 1.2 million from January through September 2024.
“The launch of this dashboard and our efforts to curb illegal dumping reflects the City’s broader commitment to cleaner neighborhoods and a cleaner downtown,” Brown wrote in a new release.
According to the dashboard, Spokane cleaned up 1,522 different sites throughout 2023, which it’s steadily approaching so far this year. From January through September 2024, Spokane cleaned up 1,398 other sites, which is 25% more than that timeframe last year.
Spokane also finished cleaning up more sites every month this year except for August compared to 2023. Communications Director Erin Hut told The Center Square that the dashboard only reflects the city’s clean-up efforts, not others who also contribute, such as the Downtown Spokane Partnership.
“Our Code Enforcement teams work tirelessly to meet these challenges head-on and we appreciate residents utilizing 311 to report illegal dumping,” Brown continued. “The data we collect helps us refine our strategies and make better decisions moving forward.”
As illegal dumping increases, Brown wants to focus on accountability. Like residents, the mayor wants to see Spokane enshrined as a clean and safe city. Her proposed ordinance would elevate the penalty for illegal dumping from a civil infraction to a gross misdemeanor.
According to state law, it’s “a gross misdemeanor for a person to litter in an amount of one cubic yard or more.” Anyone found guilty must also pay a “litter cleanup restitution,” more than twice as much as the actual cost to clean up the litter or $100 per cubic foot.
State law also requires half of that restitution to go toward the landowner where the illegal dumping or littering occurred. The other half is supposed to go to the health department investigating the incident.
“We want residents to see the direct impact of their reports and our response,” Code Enforcement Director Luis Garcia wrote in the release. “The increase in waste collected year-to-date underscores our intensified efforts to keep our neighborhoods and streets cleaned.”
