Council urged to support tax increase
The Liberty Lake City Council heard a special presentation from Spokane County representatives during Tuesday’s meeting urging them to support the one-tenth of one percent sales tax increase to pay for emergency communications. The measure is on the May 20 ballot.
Spokane Fire Department Chief Bobby Williams and Spokane County Commissioners Mark Richard and Todd Mielke outlined the need for the money. The tax would raise more than $90 million over 10 years to pay for capital expenditures required for the new system, reverse 911, restoration of Crime Check, equipment replacement and maintenance and an anticipated shortfall in 911 revenue in two or three years. Reverse 911 allows officials to quickly call residents to warn them about an emergency in their area, such as an approaching wildfire or police incident.
The measure was brought before voters last fall and failed by less than 300 votes. Last year the County only had five weeks to make its case and didn’t clearly explain what the tax would be used for, said Mielke. This time the group is visiting every city and town in the county to explain the plan. “We’re doing it different this time,” he said.
Emergency responders have plenty of problems with the current system, said Williams, including dead zones where radios don’t work. “Depending on where you are, you might be able to see someone but can’t talk to them on the radio.”
Agencies can’t talk to one another, 911 is being overloaded, and the system is simply outdated. “Some equipment is over 30 years old,” Williams aid. “We’re running into reliability issues.”
The impetus behind the measure is a new FCC requirement that all VHF and UHF users switch to a narrow band system by 2012. If the measure passes now the county will still be hard pressed to get everything up and running in time, Williams said. “It’s not something you do with a snap of the finger.”
Councilwoman Susan Schuler offered to help give presentations to other jurisdictions and community groups. “For me personally this is a very important matter,” she said. “I think we as a city should take a very strong position on this.”
The council also passed a resolution that would limit the library/community center project to $9.8 million and states that general fund money shouldn’t be used for any part of construction. “This is a great example of a useless piece of legislation,” councilman Odin Langford said. The city has already passed an ordinance setting the price at $9.8 million. “Then we follow up with another piece of paper that says ‘We really, really mean it.’ “
The resolution is not legally binding. Councilman Brian Sayrs said the document is primarily a statement of the council’s intent. “It’s going to be a different City Council that will be making this decision,” he said. “If there is a cost overrun, it will be in 2010.”
The project shouldn’t go over because a cushion was built into the $9.8 million estimate to cover any higher than anticipated costs, he said. Sayrs agreed the resolution was worthless, but said it was also important. “It’s all important because it expresses our intent,” he said. “It’s worthless because it’s not binding.”
Langford and Schuler voted against the resolution.