(The Center Square) – Spokane owes two months of unpaid jail bills totaling $1.3 million to the county after officials diverted $6 million from the state’s criminal justice sales tax to homelessness programs.

City leaders claim their jail costs are rising disproportionately compared to Spokane County, as the fund responsible for those charges sits nearly empty. However, county taxpayers are already footing the bill for nearly 2,500 felony offenders arrested within city limits, and data shows there is more to the story.