SPOKANE, WA – Spokane taxpayers are on the hook for about $100 million over the next five years as the city transitions to a new dispatch service, according to a report obtained by The Center Square.

The Spokane City Council voted Monday to officially stand up the new emergency dispatch center, but not everyone knew how much it would cost. While the Spokane Police Department already handles its own calls for the most part, the Spokane Fire Department has relied on a regional partnership since 2022.

Spokane Regional Emergency Communications serves as the primary public safety answering point, or PSAP, for almost the entire county. SREC engaged in negotiations with the city for years in hopes that SPD would fully commit, but that came to a close in June when officials voted to kick the city out of it.

Spokane only has until January 2026 to stand up its own PSAP amid an ongoing budget crisis. Council members told The Center Square that no matter how they voted, the costs are inevitable at this point.

“Nevertheless, the costs of doing so are substantial,” Council Budget Director Kate Fairborn wrote in a Sept. 1 executive summary of the PSAP report to Council President Betsy Wilkerson, “$39.4 [million] in the first two years and $94 [million] over 5 years. The source of immediate funding is unknown.”

The 76-page document starts with a letter from Mayor Lisa Brown, noting that Matrix Consulting had said it typically takes close to two years to stand up a PSAP, but that she only had about 14 months to launch.

The report claims the transition is feasible, but success hinges on several assumptions holding true to meet the mayor’s deadline. If there are any hiccups along the way, it could result in delays that might cost taxpayers even more, not to mention that the report doesn’t take into account annual inflation.

While the council voted Monday to establish the Spokane United 911 Network, which will operate out of a building the city already owns, Brown knew how much the transition would cost since early last month.

According to the report’s metadata, someone created the version with the mayor’s letter on Aug. 5 and modified it on Aug. 19. SREC sent it to the Board of County Commissioners on August 28, which BoCC Chair Mary Kuney then forwarded to Wilkerson, according to emails obtained by The Center Square.

Wilkerson emailed it to Fairborn less than 10 minutes later and said, “Read the end ! of report,” which outlines the $94 million in costs year by year. The last few pages acknowledge that the report doesn’t take inflation or cost-of-living adjustments into account, nor contingency or potential cost overruns.

“The first year of operations will also require dual-system support as the City disengages from SREC and becomes self-sufficient,” according to one of the assumptions in the report, “and the timing of tax revenue to support the new PSAP may leave a gap that the City must cover from the general fund.”

The general fund is already facing a multi-million dollar budget hole in 2026, with another fund paying for the city’s monthly jail costs now insolvent. The council votes next week over potentially backfilling that account with $2 million from the general fund, and these PSAP costs may only make matters worse.

Fairborn emailed Councilmembers Michael Cathcart and Paul Dillon the report on Sept. 3, noting it would come up at their next budget meeting with the mayor and Chief Financial Officer Matt Boston.

Yesterday, only 19 hours after The Center Center Square had received the report, Spokane announced an upcoming budget meeting is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Thursday. The Center Square contacted Wilkerson, asking if any other members had seen the report, but did not receive an answer before publishing.

Councilmembers Jonathan Bingle and Zach Zappone told The Center Square that they hadn’t seen the report yet, with Bingle adding that the entire dais should have had it ahead of Monday’s vote.

“The issue is that there’s not a choice,” Zappone told The Center Square. “We have to figure out the costs.”

Zappone said he’s been asking questions to understand better how the transition will play out, but that the budget is still a work in progress. He declined to speculate when asked if he was concerned about service level delays, such as slower response times, if the mayor’s 14-month timeline doesn’t play out.

“The aggressive schedule limits contingency planning and raises the risk of costly delays or operational failures if even one major component encounters issues,” according to an assumption in the report.

Dillon told The Center Square that he doesn’t think a delay would result in slower response times and cited hopes for increased efficiencies through their new PSAP. He recognized that spending $16 million in the first year alone would be tough, but said the city is negotiating with the county over revenues.

In anticipation of the split, the Legislature stepped in a few months ago and passed a bill that requires the county to transfer an “equitable apportionment” of the regional 911 excise tax revenue to the city.

SREC relies on that excise tax revenue from practically the entire county to fund its operations, along with another sales tax measure that voters approved in 2017 and member fees from each participant.

What is considered “equitable apportionment” could impact how long it takes the city to stand up the new PSAP. Spokane Communications Director Erin told The Center Square that the city may go after that revenue dating back to 2021, which could potentially dip into SREC’s reserves for a new facility.

“The big piece that really is missing, the unknown variable, is the funding that we’re owed,” Dillon told The Center Square. “That could go towards helping supplement the costs for an independent PSAP.”

Dillon and Cathcart acknowledged that they had seen the report two weeks before Monday’s vote, but hadn’t shared it with their peers. Both chair the Finance and Administration Committee and said that it hadn’t come to mind, since Wilkerson already saw it, and it felt like the administration’s responsibility.

Cathcart told The Center Square that the 14-month timeline is concerning, noting that the state might need to step in and give the city an extension if SREC doesn’t first. January 2026 is only months away, so time is ticking. The report includes a target launch of Oct. 1, 2026, which is long after the deadline.

The end of the report includes three factors the city needs to consider to determine the total impact on taxpayers: comparison of the net contribution from the general fund currently and then in each scenario, how much 911 excise tax revenue the city could get from the county, and the costs of having to rejoin the regional model in the future as a full member, paying full dues, as SREC has requested in the past.

If everything goes to plan, the report says the city could see long-term savings, but it may take years.

“The assumptions forming the framework for this analysis, the findings of feasibility, and the estimated costs and timeline in this document are subject to ongoing legislative decisions and negotiations with SREC,” according to the report. “Because those outcomes directly influence the feasibility factors, resolving them should be considered a prerequisite to moving forward with the new PSAP.”