(The Center Square) – Spokane Regional Emergency Communications announced a decision on Thursday to end discussions with the city of Spokane, requiring the municipality to implement a dispatch system outside of the network.
While the Spokane Fire Department was a part of the regional network, the Spokane Police Department never joined. The SREC Board of Directors’ decision to remove the city altogether eliminated the possibility of both joining, forcing Spokane to set up its own dispatch center.
Communications Director Erin Hut told The Center Square that the city is working to establish a timeline for when it expects to have the system up and running. She added they would know soon but didn’t elaborate further.
“The City of Spokane’s decision to value its own needs to the detriment of the broader region leaves the Board no choice but to move forward independently,” SREC Chair Cody Rohrbach wrote in a press release.
The two have discussed bringing the city under the model for over five years. Most of Spokane County relies on SREC for dispatch services. Still, “despite these efforts, key City officials have shown reluctance to fully embrace regional collaboration,” according to the press release.
The network involves 20 other agencies, which pay member fees and contribute 911 excise tax revenue to fund SREC. In 2023, the city generated about 45% of SREC’s revenue outside of member fees, on top of the $1.8 million SFD paid in those dues.
The dispatch service told the city last spring that SPD needed to join or face leaving altogether.
Mayor Lisa Brown negotiated an extension through the end of the summer, and when that time came, the city issued several recommendations to SREC to “pave way” for its participation.
While SREC agreed to some, the two ultimately split on Thursday due to several issues.
“The City’s stance on critical legislative matters, such as HB 1258 – which would inequitably direct county tax dollars to address the City’s financial and public safety challenges – further illustrates a growing divergence in priorities,” the SREC Board wrote in the release.
Brown previously called out SREC for increasing member fees despite its reserves loaded with cash. The city believed the network could eliminate those fees and still achieve a balanced budget; however, the dispatch network plans to use that extra money to build a new facility.
“It has become clear that District 3 state representatives have chosen to prioritize the needs of the city of Spokane over the broader regional interests, politicizing public safety funding in the process,” Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels, who also serves on the SREC Board, wrote in the release. “This difference in priorities has created a fundamental distrust on how we approach regional collaboration.”
On Wednesday, the board approved a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners that the city establish its own dispatch system by 2026. SREC noted that it will work to ensure a smooth transition without uninterrupted service for “all its member agencies.”
Brown issued a statement following the announcement Thursday, stating her disappointment over the decision. She pushed that SREC expected “unreasonable deadlines,” providing “an artificial sense of urgency” while failing to fully answer the city’s questions around the user-fee model.
“The city of Spokane has offered solutions – like jointly identifying a neutral facilitator – intended to move us collectively toward a resolution, but SREC has been disagreeable and unwilling to consider our recommendations,” Brown wrote in her statement. “Community safety is my top priority and I want to support good-faith efforts to improve services for people across the region, but as a representative of the city of Spokane, I must perform my due diligence for our taxpayers.”
