Franklin County, WA, Sounds the Alarm on Faulty 9-1-1 Tower

Oct. 21—With ballots in the hands of voters now, one group of Franklin County residents is making the case for a new sales tax to prevent a looming 911 communications failure.

Franklin County's 911 towers are using outdated VHF transmitters. Parts are failing at a rate of about four a week. Those parts are no longer made and the county is now unable to easily find replacements online.

That could lead to a situation in rural Franklin County where a tower component fails and technicians can't get it back to working for days.

Already rural fire districts say they struggle to communicate over garbled radios. A failure can result in either diminished service or none at all.

The county reported one major failure recently, but technicians were able to get it back up and running. There was also a run of interference in the Basin City area due to outside radios, Commissioner Stephen Bauman reported recently to his fellow commissioners.

So a group of citizens is asking neighbors to approve Proposition 1, which would see a 0.002 cents sales tax increase, or 2 cents on a $10 purchase. After three years, that would drop to 0.001 cents.

The language on the ballot will list it at one-tenth of a percent for three years plus another one-tenth of a percent with no expiration.

Pro Committee Chairman Mike Miller told the Herald that Franklin County can't afford for these systems to fail.

"It comes down to safety ... ," Miller said. "In order to have good law enforcement and first responder services, we have to have good communications."

The initial amount is the same as the recently approved sales tax funding Pasco's Aquatic Center. There are also exemptions for a variety of goods, including farming equipment.

The tax on sales in Franklin County would raise an estimated $21 million over three years and then drop to $3.5 million a year based on current sales predictions.

The tax is separate from the E-911 tax on phone bills, which pays for dispatch related services. The 911 Communications Sales Tax can only be used for infrastructure and radios.

Franklin County ballots for the Nov. 5 election were mailed last week.

Why now?

Earlier this year law enforcement and fire chiefs from across the Tri-Cities got together to renew a push for a systemwide replacement, that could cost of up to $30 million total across two projects. That's split between Benton and Franklin counties and Pasco, Richland and Kennewick.

That total will shift as the agencies know the number of radios needed to be replaced and if they qualify for any Washington state and federal grants.

The bulk of the cost though comes from Franklin County, because Benton County already has an 800 MHZ system in place, which is used by all of the police agencies.

"Before you can take care of any else, you have to take care of yourself," Miller said. "We've got to make sure we have people who can respond and help each other in the first place."

It's a plan that's been on their radar for years, but was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Already grant funding has eliminated a significant chunk of the costs for the first portion of the project, knocking millions off the project price tag.

Cost breakdown

The first $4.5 million of the project, which has already been approved and paid for through various other means such as remaining American Rescue Plan funds, will start the process of replacing the VHF and microwave drums on towers.

As of this summer, the latest cost estimate they've received from Motorola was $17 million to $18 million for the remaining infrastructure across both counties, if all of their requests were included. However, that could be reduced by up to $6 million if certain infill sites under consideration are not needed.

Those sites, if necessary, would add new equipment to the Kennewick Police Department or Kadlec Regional Medical Center to help with interior signal issues.

That price tag did not include subscriber units and radios.

New sites they'd like to add to ensure optimal coverage would cost an additional estimated $2 million each for the infrastructure.

The cost for the radios is unknown at this time because they do not have a full count of how many they'd need. The preliminary number given was for all radios the fire stations had on hand, including outdated and not in-use units.

To replace every single unit, Benton County Emergency Services Director Jay Atwood estimated it could cost up to $9 million, but he said that number would likely come in significantly lower at about $6 million to $7 million.

The total project cost, including the portion that's already been paid for, with estimates for removal of old equipment and installation of new radios could reach up to $35 million.

Franklin County and Pasco's share would come out to about $7 million up front with an estimated $3.5 million in annual fees.

Those are just the upfront costs. Benton County currently has a plan with Motorola that lets it upgrade software, radios and equipment as needed as part of an annual fee. It also doesn't include radio airwave licensing fees.

Those radio costs would go directly to helping fire districts that could otherwise not afford the purchases.

"We have to have communication pathways that are critical for everyone," Miller said. "It's about interoperability, because it's not just the communication that goes on between Franklin County but all of the responders who come over to help."

Tri-Cities area fire districts have had a number of levy lid lift failures in recent years and their budgets are feeling the pinch. Most of the lid lifts approved by taxpayers in recent years have been significantly scaled back after initial voter rejections.

Franklin County Fire District 1, which serves the Connell area, has measure on the Nov. 5 ballot. They're asking for a lid lift for the first time just to keep operations going. Their area also is one of the worst for radio dead spots.

Without the sales tax to help pay for radios, these fire districts might have to ask for additional property tax increases down the line because their budgets are restricted to a 1% increase per year, unless they put a levy lid lift on the ballot.

Obsolete systems

These 911 communication towers are a complex system. It starts with a microwave transmitter, the drums often seen on cell phone towers, which lead into a computer and transmitting equipment.

Phase one of the project is replacing those drums and the parts used to connect them to electronics that help reroute the signals. This is the portion that's already being paid for.

Parts for the older VHF system haven't been made in years. While Benton County is largely already upgraded, they still have more than a half dozen VHF systems across the county that fire departments use.

Many of the VHF setups still use monochrome monitors, the old black and green displays that haven't been manufactured in decades.

While Franklin County could do a total overhaul of their antiquated VHF system, the technology format itself would be obsolete before the end of the decade, and they'd be back at square one.

It would also cost nearly as much as just moving to the 800 MHz system.

The second, larger portion of the upgrade, will see all of the other electronics, transmitters and repeaters on Franklin County hilltops upgraded to be brought in line with the rest of the region.

That's all of the equipment that lives in the small buildings you see next to the towers in places like the top of Badger Mountain.

The 800 MHz system is digital and far more robust, allowing for greater numbers of channels and easier coordination. The old VHF system has limited channels and they're typically used by only one agency at a time.

This story was originally published October 21, 2024, 11:55 AM.

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