By Cory McCoy
Tri-City Herald (Kennewick, Wash.)
KENNEWICK, Wash. 鈥� The decision came down to the wire, but Franklin County agreed to ask voters in November to approve a sales tax increase to fix its deteriorating 911 system.
The cost of upgrades is expected to be $17 million to $20 million, plus several million more each year in licensing and maintenance expenses.
The higher end of the cost range also will fix a problem with radio dead spots in the county in areas like Kahlotus and in buildings in urban areas where firefighters and law enforcement can鈥檛 radio for help.
If the county were to try to finance just its portion with Motorola, without adding the additional equipment for dead spots in urban areas, it would be looking at about $3.5 million a year in payments.
Motorola is expected to bring forward an engineering proposal with firmer numbers by the end of August.
Franklin County鈥檚 legal team presented eight sales tax levy options for commissioners to consider Wednesday after Prosecutor Shawn Sant told the board last week county attorneys needed direction as soon as possible. Tuesday, Aug. 6 , is the deadline to file a November ballot item.
They chose their own No. 10 proposal, instead.
Finding a number
After failing to get a second from one of the other commissioners on the option to levy a 0.2 cents sales tax with no sunset, Commissioner Stephen Bauman suggested a new option of levying a sales tax of 0.2 cents with it automatically cutting back to half that amount in 5 years. That proposal also died when he couldn鈥檛 get a second commissioner to support it.
A 0.2 cents, or 2/10ths of a penny, sales tax increase is 2 cents on a $10 purchase. It鈥檚 the same amount Pasco approved in 2022 to pay for its aquatic center.
Commissioner Clint Didier seemed to be in favor of a 0.1 cent sales tax levy, which Benton County Emergency Services Director Jay Atwood said might cover the minimum $3.5 million financing costs.
Atwood noted that there will be variation from year to year and the commissioners would need to plan to cover any gaps.
Despite Didier seeming to favor the 0.1 cent option, he never made a motion to vote on it.
Atwood said that the decision needed to be made as soon as possible, because radio failure has become a matter of 鈥渨hen, not if.鈥�
He explained that channels on the obsolete VHF system are already showing signs of failure, which means that firefighters and emergency medical crews will have to use a busier channels, which could overcrowd them.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to continue to draw down until there鈥檚 nothing left. What that ends up looking like is we have no radio service for fire and EMS,鈥� Atwood said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very dire.鈥�
Chairman Rocky Mullen said he was in favor of taking Bauman鈥檚 suggestion and dropping from 0.2 cents to 0.1 cents after three years instead of five, which would allow them to cover the infrastructure upgrade costs and then have ongoing funding for maintenance.
The tax on sales in Franklin County would raise an estimated $21 million over three years and then drop to $3.5 million a year based on current sales predictions.
Didier said he was still concerned it wouldn鈥檛 pass, but told his fellow commissioners he would vote yes as a show of unity.
鈥淚 too am concerned it will not pass, but then again we need a system that鈥檚 going to fund us,鈥� Mullen said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 really see any other alternatives.鈥�
What were the options?
The eight options offered ranged from a 0.1 cent to 0.2 cents collection with different caveats, such as the time limited sunset the tax, a sunset when a certain amount was collected and a time limited 鈥渞eversion鈥� to drop down to 0..05 cents after the initial period to raise money for the more expensive replacement costs.
Public safety officials have staunchly advocated for the 0.2 cents because it will cover the initial cost and ensure the county isn鈥檛 鈥渒icking the can down the road.鈥�
Connell Fire Chief Ken Woffendon told the three commissioners last month that there are ongoing considerations that necessitate levying the larger amount.
He noted that while there is a large, upfront one-time cost to upgrade the towers and radios, there will be annual ongoing costs as well.
He said these annual fees for licensing the frequency would be an insurmountable cost if the county isn鈥檛 able to help rural areas with them.
What will it pay for?
All of the fire stations and most of Franklin County鈥檚 first responders use radios tied to an obsolete VHF transmission system.
This VHF equipment, mounted on communication towers atop mountains and ridges in the area, already has significant coverage problems, and there is concern that they may fail before replacement projects can be completed.
For years the Tri-Cities has relied on parts from eBay to maintain the equipment, but even that is no longer available.
The planned upgrades would see all Tri-Cities first responders brought onto the newer, digital 800 mhz frequency. That bandwidth is already used by the police agencies, with the exception of the Franklin County Sheriff鈥檚 Office . That means those agencies would also all need new radios.
Under the plan they鈥檙e looking at, regular maintenance and upgrade should be included in the annual costs.
Benton County is looking at other revenue sources to pay for their portion of the upgrades. While they still have VHF equipment to be replaced, their lift is much lighter because the federal government helped pay for their upgrades because of Hanford site security.
Alternative radio system
Commissioner Didier previously suggested that Franklin County should look into a company called Everbridge, with the idea that they could use satellite and cell phone frequencies instead of VHF. He said he spoke with an employee of the company while on vacation and was told they could do the job for much less.
However, commissioners were told earlier this year that the technology, using satellite services such as Starlink, was still years away from being a viable option.
The company in question also does not appear to offer this technology. Everbridge specializes in mass communication notifications during emergencies, not 911 infrastructure.
Its E911 services are for routing calls for companies that need mobile solutions, such as their client Loomis. Those systems still rely on traditional 911 infrastructure, but Everbridge helps organize their communications.
It鈥檚 also unclear how, or if, this would integrate with the Tri-Cities 911 communications system, called SECOMM.
It would also essentially result in Franklin County fire districts and the sheriff鈥檚 office being on a completely separate communication mode from other first responders throughout the Tri-Cities.
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