Ask voters to support the failing Tri-Cities 911 emergency system with a sales tax | Opinion

The Tri-City Herald Editorial Board
·4 min read
Communications towers sit atop mountains and ridges across the Tri-Cities, enabling cell phone and wireless communication. Tri-Cities leaders are asking for millions for major upgrades to the components that power the area’s 911 system.

The region’s aging 911 communications system, critical to the safety and health of more than 319,000 people in the Tri-Cities area, is currently held together with the equivalent of chewing gum and baling wire.

Local leaders should move swiftly to put a new sales tax on the ballot to pay for bringing the system into the 21st century before residents face a major slowdown in responses to emergencies.

Local governments established the Southeast Communications Center, or SECOMM, in 2018 to consolidate emergency response services to Benton and Franklin counties and the cities of Kennewick, Richland and Pasco. From the start, SECOMM’s newly combined infrastructure – built largely with used parts in the 2000s – was overdue for a major overhaul.

During the pandemic, regional officials failed to keep a focus on planning for a full-scale upgrade. It’s a weak excuse for poor leadership, but there it is.

Now the system is virtually obsolete and relies on replacement parts purchased on eBay, of all places. Those parts are getting harder to find, according to emergency officials.

When key elements like a microwave tower fail and spare parts can’t be located, communications along the 911 response system will slow, endangering lives and property in emergencies where every second counts.

“There’s a very real possibility someone’s house could be on fire eight to 10 minutes down the road from a fire house and we wouldn’t get a (response in time),” Richland Fire Chief Thomas Huntington recently told Tri-City Herald reporter Cory McCoy.

Workarounds may be possible to keep the system running when there are critical failures, but those fixes could add time to the response.

A two-part upgrade, with an estimated cost of more than $20 million, would apply fixes to a communications web spanning more than 3,000 square miles and used by two dozen police, fire and emergency services agencies.

SECOMM officials have secured $2 million in congressional funding and $250,000 from the state to cover the cost of initial upgrades. County and city leaders should join them in an aggressive push for additional funding from grants and other sources. They also should ask local industries, including contractors at the Hanford site, to lend a hand to upgrade services that benefit their interests, too.

“Remaining status quo is not really an option,” Huntington said. “We’re chasing every funding option we can get our hands on. Big grants, small grants, potentially even loans.”

For the remainder of the funding, Benton and Franklin county commissioners should turn to voters for approval of a special sales tax. Ask the people if they want reliable emergency communications services or if they’re willing to gamble on systemic failures and slower response times.

Counties have the authority to seek a 0.2% sales tax increase, or 2 cents on a $10 purchase. The money could fund only emergency communications services.

A sales tax is an equitable way to raise the money needed because it spreads the cost to tourists who also benefit from a strong 911 system regardless of whether they use it during their visits.

Regional leaders will need to deliver a robust and unified sales pitch explaining what will happen if the upgrades aren’t made or if officials are forced to cut other programs or impose other taxes to pay for the improvements.

Give voters a detailed view of major components of the system and what happens when they fail. Include a sunset provision so that the tax goes away when the upgrades are complete.

A new tax should fix the immediate problem. After that, local officials should plan ahead. If they need a new long-term funding source for maintenance and eventual updating, they can make that case later.

The important caveat is that the tax should take effect only if it passes in both counties. It would be manifestly unfair to ask one county’s taxpayers to pay for upgrades that benefit everyone in the system. The whole point of creating SECOMM was shared safety and funding responsibility.

A working 911 system is essential to any community’s quality of life. As challenging as a major overhaul may be, our region needs to ensure emergency services are ready when needed.