Spokane and regional 911 communications system remain at impasse

In the fight over how Spokane fields its 911 calls, Mayor Lisa Brown and the Spokane Regional Emergency Communications remain at an impasse.

Since the regional 911 dispatch first formed in 2019, the city has teetered on the edge of joining the centralized dispatch. Right now SREC answers all 911 calls in the region, but forwards calls for police services within city limits to the city’s own dispatchers. Meanwhile, Spokane Fire joined SREC in 2022.

Three months ago, the SREC board wanted a definitive answer whether the city would fully integrate. In a response last weekend, Mayor Brown announced the city would join – but only with significant changes to the board’s makeup and SREC finances.

“The ultimate conclusion was regionalization is best practice. There are some issues with our current regional model that should be addressed, but that’s the mayor’s position,” said Maggie Yates, deputy city administrator, at a Thursday SREC board meeting. “We understand that SREC can play a really critical role in public safety, our public safety infrastructure, and we want to be a part of that, but in order to really achieve that, we need to look at the governance, the financials and sort of the strategic planning and collaboration.”

According to Brown’s Aug. 24 letter, the board must provide more representation for the city of Spokane and eliminate user fees for the city and other municipalities.

At the Thursday meeting a majority of members rejected these proposals but left the door open to negotiation – creating a subcommittee for that purpose.

SREC’s board affords the city two of nine voting members on a panel where decisions must be made with at least a two-thirds majority. Brown said this representation is inadequate for a city that makes up more than 40% of the population in the county.

In their response the SREC board recommended adding a seat for the Spokane Police Department. With this change the City of Spokane would control three of ten board seats – a rate Yates said would still be unrepresentative.

“This isn’t about control. This isn’t a zero-sum game. We think that allowing for equitable and proportional representation to address the needs of our urban centers and our rural jurisdictions will improve public safety across the region.

SREC board member and Spokane County CEO Scott Simmons countered – claiming SREC needs “regional representation” and not “dominate representation.”

SREC is currently funded through a combination of use fees, sales tax revenue and a state 911 excise tax. Brown contends the City of Spokane pays more than its fair under this scheme. According to the city report, taxes generated within city limits make up roughly 65% of revenue for the regional dispatch service. Because of SREC’s consistent surplus, no more user fees should be charged to Spokane or any other agency, she argues.

“SREC’s tax revenues alone are sufficient to cover SREC’s expenditures. Therefore, as we have consistently maintained, the user fees charged to the City and other jurisdictions are unnecessary and excessive,” Brown wrote.

SREC board members contend use fees are necessary for the long-term sustainability of the organization.

“The board believes it is a fiscally responsible way to approach funding with the goal of incurring as little debt as possible as we know this would ultimately cost taxpayers more if funded from other sources,” said board chair Cody Rohrbach.

Fellow board member and Spokane Valley Fire Chief Frank Soto Jr claimed it was “ridiculous” the city would suggest SREC was mismanaging tax dollars when Spokane is $50 million in debt.

As the city and SREC attempt to negotiate, the regional dispatch is in a standstill with long-term planning.

“We’re really stuck,” said SREC Director Lori Markham. “We needed that answer three months ago. We delayed three months, and now my concern is that we’re looking at a lengthy amount of time of negotiation.”