Proposition 1 seeks to improve 911 system

GRANT COUNTY — The Moses Lake City Council announced Tuesday its support of the county's police, fire and emergency medical service providers ,who say it's necessary to upgrade a deteriorating and vulnerable emergency radio communications system.

Emergency responders count on voters this November to follow the council's example and approve Proposition No. 1, which would increase the local sales tax one-tenth of 1 percent. Money generated from that sales tax increase would provide ongoing funding for improvements and maintenance to Grant County's 911 radio system that is run through the Moses Lake-based Multi-Agency Communications Center.

In July, the Grant County commissioners unanimously decided to place the ballot measure before voters after the MACC board of directors requested it be considered for the November ballot. The proposition can now be adopted with a simple majority vote.

If approved, sales tax will rise from .078 to .079 cents per dollar and generate an estimated $800,000 each year that will be exclusively dedicated to construction, operation, maintenance and repair of the 911 radio system.

The tax would add up to about 10 cents for every $100 spent in the Grant County, by residents and nonresidents. Outdoor recreationists, tourists, visiting motorists and other out-of-county beneficiaries of the 911 system would help pay for it.

As the county's population grows over time, the amount of money generated by the tax would also increase and therefore keep pace with 911 system requirements and eliminate the need to raise the actual percentage of tax collected in the future.

Proponents of the ballot measure say there are two reasons why now is the time for voters in the county to consider the tax increase and system upgrades.

First, the Federal Commun-ications Commission has mandated that all emergency radio networks be converted to the more expensive "narrow-band" system by 2013 and begin operating radios that use about half the bandwidth per channel.

Secondly, the existing equipment and infrastructure is worn, deteriorating and in need of replacement.

Ephrata City Administrator and MACC board member Wes Crago said that money from Proposition No. 1 would provide redundancy to the system so that multiple links will be broadcasting to the same area. That way, if one tower goes down, others would cover that area and link communications.

"Grant County has a lot of areas that are tough to get radio signals in and out of," said Chief Roger Hansen, of Grant County Fire District No. 5. "We need to have a redundant system that loops so that if one link goes down you're not out of business."

AdComm Engineering, a firm hired to evaluate and make recommendations for a radio system, estimated the cost for improvements would total $7.3 million and require about $250,000 annually to maintain the system at a level that will meet public safety standards.

"The study that AdComm did makes you shudder," Hansen said. "There are major shortfalls in our system that can't be fixed with patches."

Currently, money from state and federal sources fund less than half or about 43 percent of the $1,966,474 budget for 911 service in Grant County. Local police, fire and ambulance services pay an average of $25 per call to make up the difference. In 2005, the average assessment per call was about $22, Crago said.

Grant County Republican Chair Tom Dent said the organization has not discussed Proposition No. 1 as a party and currently has no official position.

"I'm sure we have people on both sides within our party," Dent said.

Next year, if Proposition No. 1 doesn't pass and improvements are made to the existing system, user fees could be increased to $43 per dispatched call.

"The bottom line is we won't be able to afford the right radio system without Proposition No. 1," Chief Hansen said. "If we decide to go out and put up a new public safety standard system ourselves user fees could easily double."

Meanwhile, as costs per call may potentially double, overall governmental revenues shrink for each emergency response agency serving in Grant County, Hansen said.