While the Centralia City Council unanimously approved signing a letter of support for Lewis County last month in support of the creation of a new tax to improve the county’s 911 dispatch center, the Chehalis City Council didn’t follow suit.
Councilors in the Mint City voted 4-3 against sending their own letter in support of the tax, which will be considered by Lewis County voters on the November ballot.
City councilors Bob Spahr, Isaac Pope and Kate McDougall voted in support of the letter, while councilors Kevin Carns, Jerry Lord, Daryl Lund and Mayor Tony Ketchum opposed it.
Those who opposed it raised concerns the tax would impact Chehalis more than surrounding counties. Per capita, Chehalis residents would be taxed more, some said.
The proposed initiative, currently being drafted by the Lewis County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC), would create a two-tenths of 1% sales tax to support and improve the Lewis County 911 Communications Center if approved.
Chehalis Police Chief Randy Kaut told the council the new tax is necessary due to the county’s dispatch center being understaffed, among other issues.
“We’re looking at, potentially up to $5 million to keep the dispatch center working at a professional standard,” Kaut said. “That includes the cost of staffing, making comparable wages for the staff and updating the old systems.”
He added the county already expects an increase in the dispatch center’s cost next year. Those who opposed Chehalis supporting the measure still held their same concerns.
“If you base it off (existing) sales tax, the City of Chehalis would be putting in more money than Centralia and the county,” Ketchum said.
Kaut responded by saying the Lewis County 911 Communications Combined User Committee (CUC) was planning on readjusting how much the county pays next year. Kaut represents the City of Chehalis on the CUC.
“The county will be paying significantly more than what they have,” Kaut said.
Lund maintained his opposition to signing the letter, saying he wants more concrete numbers before supporting the creation of the ballot initiative.
“How can we make a decision on something when we don’t see any numbers. There’s no numbers on what it will cost, what we’re making now,” Lund said.
He believes the city’s larger businesses risked losing sales if the tax increase was approved by voters.
Ketchum noted that whether or not the city sent a letter of support for the new tax, the initiative is going to end up on the ballot anyway. He said he is not comfortable supporting it without a new governance board created for the dispatch center to ensure the tax revenue is spent responsibly.
Pope still supported signing the letter, stating city and county officials had been trying to deal with the dispatch center being underfunded for more than a decade already on the CUC. He believes it is an issue of public safety, especially with the understaffing issue.
“What we have now definitely doesn’t work,” Pope said.
Spahr supported signing the letter, saying as long as the voters are making the final decision, the tax isn’t an issue in his view, even with the possibility of the tax impacting Chehalis more than surrounding communities.
“We need 911 and we need funding,” Spahr said.
Lund asked why the county couldn’t just pay for the updates the dispatch center needs and then maintain it with existing tax revenue.
“The problem with that, Daryl, is we don’t have the money coming in. The committee that has been working on this has been trying to establish that for 15 years, and this is probably the only mechanism that you’ve got to fund that kind of money,” Spahr said.
Carns maintained his opposition, believing the increase in sales tax could actually reduce the city’s overall tax revenue by decreasing sales.
“I do understand what Dr. Pope is saying, that people expect the chief’s guys to show up when they dial 911, so this is a tough vote,” Carns said.
Pope asked those who still opposed it what they believed should be done instead to properly fund the county’s dispatch center.
“It’s easy to say no,” Pope added.
Centralia Police Chief and CUC Chair Stacy Denham explained to Centralia City Council members last month that Lewis County residents pay a similar tax visiting other counties as it already exists in surrounding counties. Visitors to Lewis County don’t have to pay it despite using 911 dispatch services when visiting.
Kaut echoed those sentiments Monday, stating Chehalis has many tourists who make up an untapped tax revenue source.
“There are people that come through town that need services. They need police services. They need fire services, just like anyone else. So the idea is, if we can get some money to pay for it through this sales tax directly, that may allow us to either partially or maybe fully pay for the dispatch center and the services required for it,” Kaut said.
Aside from Centralia, 13 other cities and fire districts throughout Lewis County have now sent letters to the BOCC supporting the ballot initiative’s creation.
Additionally, Lewis County fire commissioners have submitted a letter of support. Along with Chehalis, the cities of Winlock, Toledo, Mossyrock and Vader have yet to submit a letter of support to the county, according to the Chehalis City Council meeting agenda report.
In an email to The Chronicle, Vader Mayor Joe Schey stated that his city had yet to be contacted by Lewis County officials concerning the 911 tax or signing letter of support for it.
“It’s quite possible that the other cities listed are in the same situation,” Schey said.
Currently, the City of Chehalis pays $368,500 for 911 dispatch services, according to the city’s 2023 budget. Like Centralia, Chehalis has an existing 8.2% sales tax, meaning if voters approve the tax increase in November, the tax will rise to 8.4%.
