Guest opinion: Existing revenues should cover upgrades

Before you vote on a fourth criminal justice/public safety sales tax increase, there are three facts you need to know: You are currently paying a sales tax increase for the communications systems and facilities; Crime Check is a reporting system, not a substitute for 911; and your elected officials refuse to consider alternate funding sources other than a sales tax. I’ll explain them one at a time.

According to the Federal Communications Commission, our communications systems and facilities need to be upgraded by 2013. There’s no question our current system needs upgrading, but not by imposing another sales tax increase. Repeat after me: I (your name) already pay a dedicated sales tax for these systems and facilities. In 2004, you voted to add a 0.1 percent public safety sales tax for these same communications systems. The city of Spokane refused to use their portion for this purpose and, along with other jurisdictions, is using this windfall revenue to backfill canceled federal grants and hire additional law enforcement personnel.

Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich claims communication incompatibility is a matter of public safety and the safety of firefighters and law enforcement. What he isn’t saying is this will be a local system and not compatible with the Washington State Patrol, the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Transportation and federal agencies. After spending millions of local dollars, our emergency personnel will still be speaking to the state and federal agencies the same way we do today. This is like Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck speaking to only half his offense. The state is currently installing and testing a regional interoperability system in northwest Washington in preparation for the Vancouver, B.C., Olympics. Rather than jump the gun and put the financial burden on our shoulders, let’s wait for a more efficient, cost-effective and statewide system a few years down the road.

Crime Check is a 24-hour reporting system. Don’t count on a responding officer. The Crime Check number was canceled in 2004 and replaced with a less expensive system because the financially mismanaged city of Spokane refused to fund it. Originally, the cost was proportionately paid from the general fund of each jurisdiction. Now, as the Spokane City Council warned, “If citizens want Crime Check, they’ll have to tax themselves.” Simply put, our elected officials refuse to rein in their bloated budgets, make the tough cuts, seek alternative solutions or wean themselves off the public trough.

It’s not as if our local governments are hurting for money. According to their budget offices, the county and cities are fat this year with surplus revenue. Sales taxes have increased substantially every year, while property valuations have skyrocketed over 30 percent. Not only has our property valuation gone up, but in 2006 our county commissioners raised our property tax 8 percent in one independent action to balance their budget. Since 2004, Spokane County, the city of Spokane Valley and city of Spokane increased their budgets by $27.5 million a year in property tax and sales tax revenues. Just imagine what Liberty Lake did. This gives credence to former Commissioner Phil Harris’ comment in 2006: “We don’t have a revenue problem; we have a spending problem.”

Our current elected officials seem incapable of priority budgeting. They brag about surplus revenue, then ask us to tax ourselves for a contaminated racetrack, a $160 million wastewater treatment plant, a $100 million jail, a “street utility fee,” a north-south freeway license fee, and perhaps a child neglect and abuse levy, not to mention fire, library and school bond levies. The problem is not just a sales tax; it’s the cumulative impact of a continually growing number of taxes, fees, levies and subsidies.

Our elected officials failed to request a study on how to fund Crime Check/communications and failed to do their due diligence in seeking alternative solutions. Law enforcement and the fire departments sold the sales tax solution as an easy out and our elected officials bought it. But Crime Check, a $3.65 million-a-year phone line, historically was, and currently should be, a general fund expense shared proportionately by the local jurisdictions. The communications systems and facilities, at a cost of $51.5 million, should be funded through proportionate sharing of costs by state, federal, local government and other agency dollars, such as fire districts. These are their budgeted numbers, not what they’ve been telling us.

It’s time we hold our elected officials accountable for budgeting as if it’s their own money. Make them give you facts, not threats. Send them a message on May 20. Vote no on the Crime Check/communications sales tax increase.