Columbia 9-1-1 presents levy case to Vernonia council, warns service cuts if revenue not restored

Columbia 9-1-1 Executive Director Mike Fletcher told the Vernonia City Council that the district’s primary operations funding depends on a voter-approved special-option levy and that the levy’s failure this past May has put operations at risk.

“We did in excess of 100,000 calls [last year],” Fletcher said, and cited national performance standards while noting local results: “99% of all of our calls are answered inside of 5.3 seconds,” and last month the center’s answer time averaged 3.2 seconds. He emphasized the district’s three main revenue sources — a permanent tax rate (about $1.5 million a year), the state 9-1-1 tax (about $740,000 to Columbia 9-1-1), and the special-option levy — and said the special-option levy is the primary gap-filler for operations and staffing.

Fletcher told the council the special-option levy is a limited-duration levy that has remained at 29¢ per $1,000 of assessed value since its inception in 1999. The levy failed by 357 votes in May, he said, and the district has moved reserve funds to the general account to keep services running; those funds, he said, will sustain operations only through June 30, 2025 unless the revenue picture changes.

Explaining trade-offs if revenue is not restored, Fletcher said the largest single expense is people and, while some maintenance and capital projects could be deferred, many operational systems and contracts cannot be partially disabled. “It comes down to cutting people,” he said, adding that staff reductions on the order of half the workforce would be required to close a major budget gap and would materially compromise service levels.

Council members asked about dead spots and specific sites; Fletcher clarified that the current levy does not fund a full radio-system replacement (that sort of capital work would be funded via bonds or separate capital measures) and that the levy under discussion supports personnel, maintenance, and routine equipment refresh. He also described owned and standby radio sites across Columbia County and said some tower sites are held as placeholders until replacement engineering is scoped.

Fletcher closed by offering to answer council follow-up questions via email and phone. The presentation did not produce a formal direction on this matter from the Vernonia council at the Oct. 21 meeting; Fletcher urged continued engagement and voter consideration of the levy in future elections.