KITTITAS COUNTY, Wash.- The 911 dispatch center in Kittitas County, KITTCOMM 911, is one step closer to securing funding to replace and update its equipment. The County Commissioners unanimously voted to put a two-tenths of one percent, or 2 cents on a $10 purchase, sales tax on the April 2024 special election ballot.
KITTCOMM answers and coordinates 911 services for all 17 public safety agencies in the county, including the Cle Elum River Valley, Suncadia, Yakima River recreational areas, ski areas, rural schools and homes, and in the many new residential and recreational developments in the county, according to a press release on the ballot measure.
“I think now the work begins to get this up to the voters and articulate why the need is there,” said District 3 Commissioner Brett Wachsmith. “I think it’s not lost on this board that we’ve known the issues for quite some” time so I’ll be supporting this today.”
A Citizens Advisory Committee worked with KITTCOMM to come to an agreement. Many saw the equipment and relayed what they saw at a public hearing on December 19.
“I saw computer systems that I was familiar with when I was in the Intelligence Service in the Air Force in the 1970s,” says Jim Allen, a resident of Kittitas County. “Those are the systems we are operating with right now and trying to keep functional.”
KITTCOMM 911’s Interim Director Rich Elliot says the committee tried to find different ways to find the money, even suggesting joining dispatches with a neighboring county. That option was found to cost more than buying new equipment, as they would still need to replace the equipment as it transitions to the new dispatch.
“It looks like we do have to not only upgrade but replace some significant portions of the system and sorta plan for the future,” says Elliot.
The new equipment will address multiple areas in need of help, including “dead zones,” areas of the county that radio signals do not reach because of mountains or hills blocking the signal.
“I have a son-in-law who is in law enforcement,” says Allen. “There’s several areas within the communities he’s dispatched to where they have no radio service. To me, that is unacceptable. Anything can happen at anytime to any of these individuals and having that lapse in communication is extremely unacceptable.”
The Kittitas County special election is April 23.
