Island County commissioners place 0.2% sales-tax measure for ICOM 911 on April ballot

The Board of Island County Commissioners voted unanimously Feb. 18 to place a ballot proposition before voters on April 22, 2025 to impose a 0.2% sales and use tax to fund upgrades to the countywide 9-1-1 communications center known as ICOM 911.

Sofia Cofield, director of ICOM 911 (Island County Emergency Services Communication Center), told commissioners the center answers roughly 93,000 calls a year for about 88,000 county residents and thousands of visitors and that its current dispatch and radio systems are aging and vulnerable to outages.

"Our current emergency dispatch system is about 4 decades old, and it's struggling to meet the increasing demands of our community," Cofield said. "What we are proposing is a sales tax measureit would be 2 tenths of a percent sales tax increase. That's an additional 2¢ for every $10 spent to fund critical upgrades to our 9-1-1 communications infrastructure."

The proposal presented to the board would fund four categories of work Cofield described as repairing the existing land-mobile radio infrastructure, replacing equipment with modern systems, improving resilience to weather and outages, and preparing for next-generation 9-1-1 services and broadband integration. She said some planned technologies could be mandated in the future and that a 0.1% increase would not generate enough revenue to fully modernize the system.

Cofield described technical needs that include microwave links and additional tower infrastructure to reduce dead zones, citing Deception Pass and other areas with poor radio reception. "If we had the ability to put up a tower with a microwave in that area, it boosts the signal," she said, noting that microwave links can maintain connectivity when other feeds fail.

Commissioner Johnson, who introduced the motion with a minor amendment to note the measure was "at the request of the ICOM 911 board," said she would vote in favor and identified herself as a member of the ICOM board. "As a member of ICOM, I am recommending this to the commissioners," Johnson said. "The consequences of allowing the infrastructure to break down . . . are significant for the life and safety of our community."

ICOM staff explained current funding sources: about 65% of ICOM's budget comes from user agencies and roughly 35% from the state-collected 9-1-1 telephone excise (the county receives reimbursement monthly based on call volume). For fiscal year 2024-25 the center expects about $40,000 returned from the state telephony funds; the agency indicated any sales-tax revenue could be used both to upgrade infrastructure and ultimately to provide relief to user agencies if the board and ICOM chose to redirect savings.

After discussion and the amendment to the resolution's preamble, the commissioners voted "aye" and the chair announced the motion passed unanimously. The resolution, as amended, directs submission of the sales-tax proposition to Island County voters at the April 22, 2025 special election.

The board and Cofield also outlined next steps: formation of a pro committee and the opportunity for opponents to submit ballot statements or form a con committee through the auditor's office. Cofield invited commissioners and the public to tour the ICOM facility in Oak Harbor.

Votes at a glance: the board approved a resolution to submit a ballot proposition for a 0.2% sales and use tax to fund ICOM 911; the motion was made by Commissioner Johnson, seconded and carried unanimously, and the proposition will appear on the April 22, 2025 special election ballot.