Arguments for and against Lewis County's 911 center sales tax initiative

Sep. 29—Ahead of the Nov. 7 general election, voters will study up on candidates and measures for local school boards, fire districts, city councils and ports, which vary depending on their address.

For people who don't consider reading ballot measures a fun leisure time activity, there is still good news: Just one "yes" or "no" initiative will appear on each of the more than 35,000 ballots sent to voters registered in Lewis County.

If the "yes" votes win it, Lewis County will begin collecting a .2% sales tax in order to fund its 911 call center, which is a rate of two cents for every $10. If the majority of ballots say "no," nothing will change.

Things without sales tax now, such as prescription medications, gas and most groceries, won't be impacted if the initiative passes.

Proposition No. 1 was proposed by the county commissioners.

As written on the ballot, the funding would be for "emergency communications systems and facilities." A variety of emergency responders in Lewis County — including the Lewis County Sheriff's Office, Centralia and Chehalis police departments and fire districts — all utilize the same 911 dispatch center, which is managed by county government.

Currently, those users pay fees to the county 911 center. If the sales tax initiative passes, the money collected will be the primary funding source for the 911 infrastructure instead.

Between Washington's minimum sales tax, 6.5%, and the county's, 1.3%, unincorporated county residents currently pay a 7.8% sales tax, according to the Department of Revenue for Washington state. Some cities also collect a percentage. Sales tax rates in Centralia and Chehalis are currently 8.2%, according to the Department of Revenue's sales tax rate search tool.

Arguments for the tax

The Lewis County 911 Communications Center is at the county campus in Chehalis, which is in a floodplain and adjacent to train tracks, said Andy Caldwell in a presentation on Thursday night to the Lewis County Democratic Party. Caldwell, who works for the Centralia Police Department, repeatedly told the group he was there as a volunteer and private citizen representing his personal opinions, not on behalf of Centralia.

However, the initial goal of this tax, he said, is to improve the county's 911 technology. Construction of a new facility is a possibility in the future, according to the "for" statement in the voter's pamphlet, written by Eric Sonnenberg.

"A sales and use tax would redistribute the funding of the 911 communications center from only the residents of Lewis County to all users of the system, including shoppers, tourists and travelers," Sonnenberg wrote.

So far, support for the tax has not been limited by partisanship.

On Monday evening, according to a news release, the Conservative Coalition of Lewis County voted to endorse the sales tax. The coalition is an informal group of Republicans across the county who meet monthly.

The group's chairman, Dave Germain, is a retired firefighter. In the news release, Germain said the conservative group would "certainly endorse" reduced spending, but that "Our 911 center needs to have a major overhaul. It also needs funding in the future to replace technology as it breaks or becomes obsolete. We have not kept up in this county, so our fire service and law enforcement can't communicate very well during emergencies. We should all find that unacceptable."

The Lewis County Democrats on Thursday also voted unanimously to endorse the initiative.

According to previous Chronicle interviews with former Lewis County Manager Erik Martin, decades of underfunding the 911 center has resulted in overworked staff and infrastructure.

The initiative also has support from the City of Centralia, the Fire Chiefs Association, the 911 Communications Combined User Committee for Lewis County.

Supporters have also argued that lowering user fees would allow law enforcement and fire departments to put that money elsewhere, which may lift some dependence on property taxes.

Arguments against

Chehalis city councilors have been reluctant to sign a letter of support for the initiative due to concerns about its impact to overall sales in the city and county.

While supporters have said the tax is a necessary step for the 911 center, the voter's pamphlet argument "against," written by Packwood resident Bill Serrahn, argues the opposite. The sales tax is projected to reel in $4.6 million annually, he said.

"According to their director, and supported by statistics, our Lewis County 911 Communications Center currently provides 'five star' service with adequate funding projected at $3.3 million for 2023 and $3.5 million for 2024," Serrahn wrote.

He argues there will be no reduction in other taxes, saying, "User fees for agencies using the 911 system have long been factored into budgets from taxes we already pay. Partially offsetting these fees with this new tax will not reduce our existing taxes."

Approximately 25% of their funding is from the county 911 fee on our phone bills, and 75% from police, EMS and fire department user fees, according to his statement.

Lewis County has recently received millions of American Rescue Plan Act dollars to fund the 911 call center, which Serrahn argues is adequate enough funding.

"Residents and businesses benefit from our sub 8% sales tax rate. We are a 'distressed county' with lower median incomes," Serrahn wrote in the pamphlet. "Increasing the rate to 8% and 8.4% for Chehalis and Centralia is unnecessary and will impact us adversely."