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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Countywide fire and police leaders convene in outcry against bill to divert some county taxes to city

County public safety officials convene on Wednesday at the new Spokane Regional Emergency Communications offices in Spokane Valley. Speaking at the podium is Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels.  (Elena Perry/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW)

Nineteen police and fire department representatives from Liberty Lake to Latah to Cheney to Elk convened at the new Spokane Regional Emergency Communications facility in Spokane Valley Wednesday to oppose an “unfair” proposed state law.

The bill, sponsored by Spokane Reps. Timm Ormsby and Natasha Hill, democrats, is the latest in a yearslong saga between the county 911 dispatch system , or SREC, and the city of Spokane. Two weeks ago, the former cut negotiations with the city to have Spokane Police join the regional dispatch service, currently the only first responders in a separate city-run system. SREC receives all calls in the county, but transfers those intended for city police.

The bill would divert a portion of taxes collected by the county to fund SREC to the city, based on a formula factoring the number of calls SREC receives for city police. At present, funding is based on population rather than call load; the city represents 42% of the county’s population and 55% of SREC’s call volume, according to SREC Communications Manager Kelly Conley.

Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels and Spokane County Fire District 3 Chief Cody Rohrbach each took issue with the premise of the bill to funnel taxes into the city and its scope. It’s narrowly tailored to only apply in this situation in Spokane County, though Legislators from across the state would be voting on the bill.

“We can’t ask the rest of the county to disproportionately cover financial for (the city); it’s really not fair. It’s not even sustainable,” Rohrbach said. “For years, our 911 tax dollars have been distributed fairly across the state based on population.”

In an interview two weeks ago, Hill said the county should be supporting the city, since that’s where the largest concentration of people lives.

“What we have here is a city and state working together and letting the county know they can do more,” Hill said at the time.

The bill is scheduled for a public hearing on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. at the State Capitol, and can we watched online via TVW.