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Medical Lake public safety officials warn House bill on 911 apportionment could prompt Spokane to leave regional dispatch
Summary
Medical Lake public safety leaders told council a proposed state bill to apportion 9-1-1 excise tax dollars by call volume prompted the regional board to support Spokane creating its own dispatch center; speakers said that could increase costs and redundancies for other jurisdictions.
Chief Romer, the fire chief who delivered the city’s public safety report, told the Medical Lake City Council that January call volume was normal but that an uptick in structure fires had accompanied recent cold weather. He said the council should watch a state measure — referenced in the meeting as House Bill 1258 — that would change how 9-1-1 excise tax revenues are apportioned across the county.
“The parameters for that bill specify apportionment in the County based on call volume as compared to tax revenue generation,” Chief Romer said, adding that council members and local agencies had testified in opposition. He said the city supports Spokane receiving a fair portion of 9-1-1 tax revenues but “not at the expense of everyone else.”
The nut graph: Council heard a regional public-safety update framing a current policy dispute over how Washington’s 9-1-1 excise tax is split among jurisdictions. Officials said the bill’s proposed formula prompted the regional board to back Spokane starting its own dispatch operations, a move they said could create duplicate dispatch centers and raise costs for other users of the shared system.
Romer summarized how regional emergency communications developed after the 1991 Firestorm, calling the current combined system — which merges 9-1-1 call intake with dispatch — a longtime improvement in response time and insurance ratings. He said Spokane Fire Department joined the regional center in November 2022, and the county is in the midst of procuring a new computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system, a purchase Romer described as a $5,000,000 investment.
Romer said the board viewed a January 10 letter and the concurrent House bill as a sign Spokane might not be pursuing a collaborative, regional approach. “The board voted to support city of Spokane becoming their own dispatch center for both fire and police dispatching services,” he said.
Councilmember Pritchard asked whether separating fire and police dispatch would cause operational problems. Romer said a single regional center reduced redundant transfers and cut average call-processing time by 25–27 seconds; splitting services would add complexity and some call routing errors would be inevitable, though he said there are technical work-arounds.
A speaker who identified himself as the sheriff’s proxy also addressed the meeting, saying local departments “will continue to have a great relationship with the Spokane Police Department” regardless of how dispatching is organized. He said cross-jurisdictional mutual aid had worked in past fires and that local deputies assigned to Medical Lake are motivated and supported by city staff.
No formal action or vote on the 9-1-1 issue occurred at the meeting. Romer said the bill remained in the House finance committee and that his office expected an update on the bill’s status before the council’s next monthly meeting.
Ending: Councilmembers asked for updates and said they would monitor the bill’s progress. Council did not take formal action on the regional dispatch issue during this meeting.
