Sales tax bump in Okanogan County would fund emergency communications

Okanogan County voters will be asked on the Nov. 5 general election ballot to approve a tax meant to upgrade emergency communication systems and facilities.

The Okanogan County Sheriff's Office explains the need for the tax by detailing the current state of the system used by fire, emergency management services, and police first responders in Okanogan County.

Existing radio repeater equipment is based on 40-year-old technology at the end of its life, and there are no replacement parts for repairs, OCSO says in a press release. The radio system is crowded due to an increase in the volume of events now occurring, and radio system failures due to old equipment means increased response times, and increased risk to citizens of property damage and personal injury, plus greater risk of injury to first responders, the sheriff's office says.

A 0.2%-increase in sales tax in Okanogan County is proposed to help pay to replace and maintain a new communications system.

That increase would mean an additional 20 cents in sales tax on a $100 purchase and would generate approximately $1.4 million per year, according to Administrator and Project Manager Mike Worden, the chief deputy of special operations and communications with the OCSO.

A ballpark cost estimate to upgrade the communications system is $4 million, Worden said.

Additional revenue brought in from the tax, if passed, would go toward future upgrades to the system, 12-15 years in the future, Worden explained, as well as maintenance for it in the meantime.

In addition, he said, some of it will be easing a transition for users of the communication system who have not previously been paying for it but will be required to in the future. Those include all fire and emergency medical services districts. To this point, only the cities and the county have been supporting the system, he said. But state law mandates a change that could be a big problem for the smaller users, so some of the tax will help ease that transition.

Equipment to be replaced includes radio repeaters that relay the traffic from the ground to the dispatch center, wires, and antennas, Worden said. And, in a few locations, they would most likely need to construct a new site altogether, including the building, backup power, and the tower itself, all of which can cost $600,000-$700,000 per site.

Worden also elaborated on the shortcomings of the current single-channel communications system, comparing it to having two FM radio stations playing at the same time.

"We call it walking on each other," he said. "You have three people saying, 'what did you say?' and it becomes a confusing mess. Adding more talk channels is a goal to alleviate that confusion and congestion."

That congestion occurs especially during surge events, lightning storms, and wildfires, Worden said. The plan would add three more channels to the radio system.

The ballot measure's passage would support first-responder agencies in 12 cities - Brewster, Conconully, Coulee Dam, Elmer City, Omak, Okanogan, Oroville, Pateros, Riverside, Tonasket, Twisp and Winthrop, including six emergency medical service agencies and districts and 23 fire protection agencies (fire districts and city fire departments).

Proposition Number 2 - Okanogan County Sales Tax for Emergency Communications Systems and Facilities will be on the ballot for Okanogan County voters in the Nov. 5 election.

More information is available at http://www.okcoec.com.