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If you first you don’t succeed – ask again.
Two Spokane County commissioners – along with the Spokane Valley police and fire chiefs – made their case Tuesday night to place a measure that would restore Crime Check and pay for needed emergency communications equipment back before voters. While the Spokane Valley City Council agreed to put the matter on an upcoming agenda to consider endorsing the .01 percent sales tax increase – as it did last fall – there was some skepticism expressed that there would be any more success this time around.
“People aren’t going to approve a blank check,” said Mayor Richard Munson.
Last November, the tax-increase proposal – which would have raised between $7 million and $8 million per year – failed by 280 votes. Had it been approved, funds would have been secured to upgrade emergency public safety communications equipment and restore the Crime Check incident report phone line, which costs about $2 million a year.
Also, money would have been set aside to boost the 9-1-1 emergency phone system. On rare occasions, when the system is overloaded, it is possible for callers to receive a busy signal instead of talking to an operator.
There was no mention of 9-1-1 or Crime Check – the popular service was suspended in 2005 after the city of Spokane stopped funding and other jurisdictions were unable to pick up the slack – in the general election ballot language. Had it been there, many – including county commissioners – believe the measure would have passed.
“We’re working on that issue,” county Commissioner Mark Richard said.
Proponents say Crime Check and the extra lines for 9-1-1 are secondary, however, to the larger issue of updating the communications equipment.
Federal mandates will force emergency responders to abandon many of the broadband frequencies currently in use and switch over to narrow-band digital equipment in 2012. That overhaul will mean junking outdated hardware, some of it as much as 30 years old, and buying everything from new radios to transmission towers.
“The time train is coming,” said Spokane Valley Fire Chief Mike Thompson. “And the light you see is not the tunnel – it’s the train.”
Police Chief Rick VanLeuven said there have been instances where county law-enforcement and city police have been unable to talk to one another in emergency situations due to obsolete technology.
“We basically Band-Aid our equipment to keep it functioning,” he said.
The technology upgrades are expected to cost about $45 million.
This time around, proponents of the tax increase say there will be a 10-year sunset clause, meaning it would expire a decade after passage. Last November’s tax request had no such clause. There would also be an oversight committee to guarantee that any of the money raised would be spent just on emergency communications needs.
Munson warned, however, that proponents needed to be more specific about the costs involved.
“That’s the kind of up-front information that people want,” he said. “I know I want it.”
The ballot question could appear during the April 22 election, the same time Liberty Lake is looking to place a $9.8 million community center bond before voters. The Spokane County Library District, East Valley School District, Spokane Transit Authority are also looking for levy, bond or sales tax approvals at some point in 2008. The county also needs money for a new jail, and the city of Spokane Valley may have to have bond votes for a new city center and its street fund in the near future.
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By
Mike Huffman
