Treatment Sales Tax
The Treatment Sales Tax (TST) is a local funding stream that works alongside federal and state funding such as Medicaid to meet mental health and substance use needs in Thurston County. Programs funded with TST aim to reduce justice involvement, emergency room use, health care costs, and public assistance.
TST is a 1/10 of 1% sales tax collected in Thurston County since 2009. Funds are spent on a variety of services including treatment courts such as Drug Court, services at the Thurston County Correctional Facility, community programs, and programs serving youth and families.
The Treatment Sales Tax program intends to:
- Improve the quality of life for Thurston County residents with behavioral health needs.
- Reduce criminal justice involvement for individuals with behavioral health needs, including jail diversion and reducing recidivism.
- Promote collaboration, coordination, and training across funded programs: Community Programs, Behavioral Health Providers, Corrections, Treatment Courts, Housing Services, and Youth & Family Services.
How are TST funds spent?
The chart above shows the breakdown of TST funds in 2022 in the following categories:
Youth and Family Services includes community and school-based behavioral health services and treatment for youth, services to youth in detention, Family Recovery Court, and services to pregnant and parenting women.
Treatment Courts include Drug Court, DUI Court, Mental Health Court, and Veteran’s Court and their associated judicial, prosecution, and defense time.
Adult Programs includes treatment, housing, employment, re-entry, and case management services for adults with mental health, substance abuse, and co-occurring disorders in the community and/or in jail, including specialized services for Veterans.
Administration includes oversight and monitoring of TST funds as well as staff training.
Community Grants are proposed and awarded annually to community organizations that provide behavioral health services.
How can community agencies, schools, or other jurisdictions apply for TST funding?
Every 1-2 years, Thurston County Public Health and Social Services issues a Request for Proposals (RFP) for TST funding; an example of an RFP from a prior year is: RFP 2018 TST Community Grants.
Past grantees have included treatment providers, community agencies, school districts, and local jurisdictions. The next RFP process will be in Fall of 2025; updates and application materials will be posted to this website. Please note that the majority of TST funding is allocated to County offices and departments through the County’s biennial budget process.
Additional Resources
An interactive data dashboard for the data reported to Treatment Sales Tax by TST-funded programs is available.
Contact our Treatment Sales Tax division at 360-490-7363 or email at tst@co.thurston.wa.us if you have additional questions.