Officials eye sales tax for emergency dispatch system fix

MACC board to push county commission for ballot measure

GRANT COUNTY — Officials are seeing a need for improvements to the countywide emergency dispatch system, and are hoping the voters will approve financing for improvements.

But first the board of the Multi Agency Communications Center wants to get a proposal for a sales tax onto the November ballot. An engineering firm has placed an estimated $6-7 million price tag on a complete overhaul of the 911 system; and board members say that cost is beyond what the law enforcement, fire and emergency services agencies can afford.

"In order to provide an adequate communications program here," said Moses Lake City Manager and MACC board member Joe Gavinski, "there are some capital improvement programs that are necessary."

The proposed one-tenth of 1 percent sales tax increase needs to be initiated at the county level, and Gavinski will be one of many board members who will present a plan to the Grant County Commissioners next week. The MACC board will present a proposal to put the one-tenth of 1 percent sales tax increase on the ballot to the commissioners at 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Grant County Courthouse.

Quincy Mayor Dick Zimbelman used to serve on the MACC board, and has also heard of problems from the police and fire agencies in his area. Those agencies have long seen poor reception in those outlying county spots.

If improvements aren't made, Gavinski said it won't be Moses Lake services that see the brunt of the problem, but the rural outlying areas of Grant County that already can name rough spots where radio reception is difficult.

Don Fortier has a few of those rough spots in his area. The chief of Fire District No. 3 oversees 503-square miles in northwest Grant County, covering a range of topography from canyons to rolling hills. While the location isn't as mountainous, there are areas that pose a challenge for his fireman and EMTs to receive a signal.

"Some areas behind Beezley Hills," he said of one difficult spot, "it's difficult to get a radio signal back there."

Fortier echoed Gavinski's comments in saying it's not feasible for agencies like his who use the service to pay for the changes. Much of the equipment currently being used at the center remains from when the county operated the system almost a decade ago, and officials admit it has come to the end of its useful life.

But Fortier said that now that MACC has their report in hand, they know what problems to look for.

"It's vital information we needed to have before we even looked for funding," Fortier said.

A report by AdComm Engineering came out earlier this year, pricing the overhaul for a complete state-of-the-art system at $7 million. And according to MACC board member and county commissioner Richard Stevens, federal guidelines are mandating changes to a narrowband radio system in the next decade.

If the sales tax hike makes it on the ballot, Stevens said monies earned would go strictly to a 911 center upgrade. Stevens is looking at a ballot measure in November, which means a resolution would have to be passed by the commissioners by mid-September.

If the measure is put on the ballot, Gavinski has proposed the MACC board put out public information on the facts of the system, and the cost to overhaul it. The information campaign would be solely facts, but he said that campaign would be necessary to explain the issue to voters.

"If we are to do the improvements, a source of funds has to be found," he said, "and it comes down to the quality of the 911 service."