Mayors say Benton County is losing the public's trust. $14M reserve could help buy it back
Benton County's $14 million public safety reserve fund could go a long ways toward lowering the fees cities pay to support the county jail and toward a new radio tower that would eliminate a dead zone near Benton City, say four local mayors.
In a joint letter signed by mayors Don Britain of Kennewick, Randy Taylor of Prosser, Bob Thompson of Richland and Brent Gerry of West Richland, the cities called on the Benton County Commission to free up sales tax money meant for public safety to improve infrastructure and regain the trust of the voters who approved the 0.3 percent sales tax in 2014.
That failure, they say, could jeopardize the tax when it goes back to voters for renewal in 2024.
"We do not want to break that trust," the mayors wrote.
The mayors asked the county to spend the unexpected windfall caused by higher-than-expected revenues to cover some of the jail costs that are currently shifted to cities under a cost sharing agreement.
And they asked the commission to allocate more funds to support a bicounty information sharing system used by local law enforcement and to install a radio tower near Benton City, where a dead zone impedes emergency communications.
The radio tower is high on the wish list of Benton County Emergency Services, which runs the 911 system in Benton County and, before long, in Franklin County too.
The new tower is needed to provide coverage in a radio "shadow" in the area thanks to topography. The dead zone impedes communication between dispatchers, law enforcement and other emergency responders, said Capt. Mike Cobb of the Richland Police Department.
"A tower would allow us to place radio waves into an area where it doesn't exist," Cobb said.
Benton County and the cities split the public safety sales tax on a 60-40 basis. The tax has added 35 law enforcement offices across the county, added school resource offices, enhanced mental and drug court operations and beefed up the inter-agency team that pursues predators who seek children online for sex.
Though much of the money has been used as planned, the county amassed a multimillion dollar savings account by underspending on programs the money was supposed to support, such as combating drugs and lowering the share of the Benton County jail costs borne by the cities.
The issue came to a head when a federal grant that supports the Kennewick-led Metro Drug Task Force fell through and the county commission refused to tap the fund to cover the roughly $100,000 shortfall.
In an about-face, the commission agreed to a one-time process to fund new efforts. In a second about-face, it limited the offer to county departments and local nonprofits with a track record of combating gangs. Proposals were due last week, and the commission will review them at 1:30 p.m. May 4 at the Benton County Justice Center in Kennewick.
Although the cities aren't eligible for extra funding, the four mayors united to remind the commission of its 2014 promise to use special tax to combat gangs, drugs and beef up law enforcement and criminal justice, and to use surplus funds to lower the rate they pay to support jail expenses.
Jail expenses soared in 2014 after the county settled a suit over court fines and fees. As part of the agreement, it no longer jails people who can't or don't pay legal financial obligations. The result was a dramatic reduction in inmate numbers, which raised the the per-prisoner cost to cities.
The mayors asked the commission to use money from the reserve to cover that shortfall, saying that by sitting on the sales tax revenue and charging cities, it is double-taxing the 80 percent of Benton County residents who live in cities.
The mayors concluded by asking the commission to follow the recommendations of the Benton County Law and Justice Council and the citizens advisory committee that advised it when it put the sales tax on the ballot in 2014.
"In 2024, the citizens will be asked to support continuation of the (public safety sales tax). We want to reduce the risk of losing future PSST funding opportunities by fulfilling obligations and investments as intended," they said.
The public safety sales tax reserve fund stood at $14.2 million at the end of February, down from more than $15 million at the end of 2017. Benton County has not updated its public safety sales tax page with March figures.
This story was originally published April 27, 2018 at 6:56 PM with the headline "Mayors say Benton County is losing the public's trust. $14M reserve could help buy it back."