August 25, 2010 in City

Spokane County 911 tax to go up in January

For first time, Internet-based service will be charged

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Emergency communications are about to join the Information Age in Spokane County – and get more expensive.

Residents will pay 75 cents a month next year for 911 service, a 25-cent increase in a rate that hadn’t changed in two decades.

People who have been getting a free ride on the digital highway will notice the change most.

For the first time, the tax will apply to Internet-based telephone service – commonly called VOIP, for Voice Over Internet Protocol. Officials hope the revised tax law is broad enough to cover other new technologies as they emerge.

A nickel of the 25-cent increase was imposed by the state Legislature, and county commissioners added 20 cents this week to support the local 911 emergency communications center.

Both changes will take effect Jan. 1.

Emergency Communications Director Lorlee Mizell said the county portion of the tax hike will generate about $1.3 million a year.

The increase will allow Spokane County to build a “next generation” 911 system that can receive e-mail, text messages, photos and videos. It would be part of a statewide network officials hope to implement in three to five years.

Mizell said failure to adopt the tax increase would have cost the county $485,000 a year because the state would have quit providing 911 network service and training.

Also, Mizell said, the county’s 911 system would have been “stuck in the 1960s” while people 30 and younger are ready to start texting their emergencies.

Commissioner Mark Richard said text messages may allow people in danger of assault to seek help discreetly. Also, he said, police and firefighters see a “tremendous advantage” in getting photos of emergencies before they arrive.

For example, Commissioner Todd Mielke said, someone might have sent a cell phone photo of the June 26 Hoopfest shooting in which two bystanders were wounded.

An off-duty police detective did use her cell phone to track the suspects for on-duty officers – a technological advance now taken for granted.

The Legislature applied the 911 tax to cell phones seven years ago, but the rate was last changed in 1992.

“We do need to catch up and make sure everybody is paying equitably,” Commissioner Bonnie Mager said.

Mielke was feeling good that he would no longer avoid the tax by using Internet-based telephone service bundled with his television and Internet service.

It turned out, though, that he needn’t have felt guilty.

Mizell said Mielke’s Comcast phone service is Internet-based, but the company asked for a land-line classification so its customers would pay the tax.

Also this week, commissioners received their first report from a citizen committee set up to monitor the one-tenth percent sales tax voters approved two years ago to rebuild police and fire radio networks.

Committee Chairman Michael Lemberger said some members had been concerned about the propriety of using that money to cover shortages in the 911 center, but increasing the 911 tax eliminates the issue.

Lemberger said the committee had to rely on county employees for information, but concluded the sales tax money so far has been spent appropriately.

Commissioners offered accounting help to make the committee more independent.

Six comments on this story so far. Add yours!

• 

  Rock60 on August 25 at 6:20 p.m.

  How do we go about paying this tax? Where is it taken out? We have cell phones, Magic Jacks and a land line. All of these or just once. More info please.

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  de3 on August 25 at 6:25 p.m.

  In 2004, we were told it was urgent to build a new public safety radio communication system. Voters passed the tax for that. But the Sheriff decided the law didn’t require spending on communications so it was spent instead on hiring more officers.

  Your article says the tax was approved two years ago for the radio communications. That, however, is not the full story. It was approved in 2004 and then again more recently. This is described in a past SR article

  http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/jul/22/sales-tax-extension-will-go-to-voters/

  How many more bait and switch games will they play on us?

• 

  de3 on August 25 at 6:46 p.m.

  Rock60 - the tax will be assessed on each line of service.

  The 911 system is doing quite well in tax revenue collection when we multiple the tax times the number of actual phones today.

  The tax did not have to increase for them to collect more tax revenue - its the tax per line times the number of lines.

  It is common today for a family to have a home phone service of some type, plus (for a family of 4), 4 lines on a family plan.

  That means instead of collecting 1 home phone x 50 cents per month like 10 to 20 years ago, or $6/year, they will now collect 75 cents x 5 lines or $3.75/month or $45/year on that family.

  Just like the bait and switch lies told to us in 2004, the County is misleading by focusing on the RATE not changing in 20 years. The County has seen its total collections rise sharply during that period, even before the tax hike. I only ask that they be honest with us.

• 

  west on August 25 at 7:23 p.m.

  Move out of that hole in eastern washington..the inland empire…ha

• 

  Shylock13 on August 25 at 10:06 p.m.

  Commissioner Mager stated that “everyone [should be] paying equitably”. Fine. Taxing VOIP is great! But why should those of us, mostly over sixty-five, who do not use texting, cell phones with photo capability, and the like pay ANY increase in the tax? To me, an old guy whose cell phone only makes telephone calls and who has no idea how to text anyone, the increase IS not at all equitable! I, and others like me, are paying for something we can’t use. We are, thus, subsidizing others!! Outrageous!! Particularly when you note that the increase is, in fact, one of 50%. And for folks like me, who are retired and on an increasingly decreasing fixed income, that hurts! It hurts even more, since we receive absolutely NOTHING from our increased taxes!!

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  lewis8457 on August 26 at 8:06 a.m.

  This is just another way to get more money across the board. They never consider those of us on fixed incomes, frankly they just don’t care.

  It is all about money and the fact they think we have more they can take. The sad fact is the recession is not over and just now getting into full swing. They may find a lot of people in the future going down to one line per household, or no lines.

  And so they will need another tax, and another and another.

  Something I found really funny in this story is an independent board is reviewing the tax of 2004 using figures given to them by the county. What a lark, can we say cover up?
  If I was on that board and was told the only figures we would be allowed to calculate were numbers given by a county employee I would have went home, and put it down as more wasted time.