The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) and Lewis County Jail will no longer make yearly payments to fund Lewis County 911 communications thanks to the county’s 911 sales tax.
The Lewis County 911 Executive Board approved the countywide call center’s first annual budget last week for the first time since the creation of a local 911 communications sales tax. As part of the budget, the board did away with annual fees previously charged to the county’s sheriff’s office and the jail for radio services.
Lewis County 911 Executive Board Chair and Centralia Police Chief Andy Caldwell first introduced the issue during the meeting, saying that it made little sense that one agency out of the more than 20 that the 911 center will serve would make payments in a different way.
“The way 911 is funded now through the sales tax, I don’t know that that’s a fair way that they should still have to pay a chunk being one partner agency when everyone else is funded through the sales tax,” Caldwell said. “I think it’s something we need to have a discussion on. What’s a fair way to do that?”
Caldwell suggested that Lewis County 911 simply bill all of the agencies it does radio work for one uniform hourly rate for the services. He also entertained the idea that the agency try to simply absorb radio services into its operating budget in order to provide services to publicly-funded first-responder agencies free of charge.
“It does seem like it would be a valid benefit from the sales tax that everybody benefits,” Caldwell said.
Board members split the discussion into two separate issues, first discussing if the LCSO and Lewis County Jail should still be obligated to make annual payments as part of a group of Lewis County departments that pay for the services. Second, the board discussed how, when and if to bill public agencies like fire and police departments for radio services.
Previously, Lewis County 911 communications operated as part of the county and brought in revenue by providing radio and communications services. Fire and police departments paying for the services would pay an hourly rate for the work while the county sheriff’s department and the jail paid yearly rates, despite at least the sheriff’s department already paying its own staff for most of its radio work including installing radios into the department’s cars.
The decision to stop charging the Lewis County agencies seemed a simple decision for board members, who unanimously agreed to stop receiving the yearly payment of nearly $90,000. Lewis County 911 will still receive yearly payments from other Lewis County departments that use its services, including the department of emergency management, the coroner’s office and others.
“As much as I like to see the sheriff pay more money,” Chehalis City Manager Stacy Denham said jokingly. “I don’t think that’s entirely appropriate, so I think right there that should end and they should be treated like everybody else.”
The discussion over how, when and if to bill public agencies for radio equipment work was more nuanced, with members of the board considering two options: not billing any public agencies for radio work or billing all radio work at one equal rate.
Many board members, including Lewis County Sheriff Rob Snaza and Denham, advocated for continuing to bill for radio services. According to the two local officials, providing radio services free of charge would mean smaller agencies would get some services for free that larger agencies would continue to pay for.
Larger law enforcement agencies like the sheriff’s office and those in Centralia and Chehalis already pay their own staff for radio work like installations, while smaller agencies rely on the Lewis County 911 radio team for those services. No hourly billing would mean small agencies getting free installation and other work that larger agencies continue to pay their own staff for.
Ultimately, board members from both the larger and smaller agencies agreed that a universal hourly billing rate was the most fair way to provide radio services to public agencies in the county.
“That hourly rate is going to include any installations, and that’s for everybody that the radio shop services,” Caldwell said. “That hourly rate is going to be determined by the radio shop and put out to the individual agencies by contract.”
