In Our Opinion
We generally don’t give public safety much thought, until we need it.
Public safety is nothing that should be taken for granted. Its quality and quantity can determine whether you are safe or at risk, whether you live or you die.
But it is something that must be paid for, and that is why we are encouraging Cheney voters to say yes on the city’s Proposition 1. Proposition 1, would, if passed, increase the property tax levy by 70 cents from its current $2.40 per $1,000 of assessed value to $3.10 per $1,000 of assessed value.
This would be a one-time lift, and restore the city’s property tax to the level allowed under law had previous city councils elected to take more than the 1 percent allowed for by passage of Initiative 747 in 2001. The lift would provide an additional $410,975 to the city’s general fund each year, money city officials have said would go towards meeting a long list of needs the police and fire departments have laid out.
Police would be able to hire more full-time patrol officers, bringing its compliment closer to the average for cities Cheney’s size, while also replacing worn out vehicles, computer equipment and providing required officer training.
Fire would be able to begin budgeting for a new main attack engine, with a very-little-frills price tag beginning around $500,000. Fire would also be able to buy new equipment, replacing existing hoses that date back to the early 1980s, worn out firefighter turnouts that protect them from the heat and upgrading airpacks with models that keep fire first responders safer longer.
The city has provided some figures for what some of this would cost: air packs about $100,000 total, turnouts also $100,000 total, police car fully equipped $46,500 and new officers around $80,000 – $90,000 each.
The city has also tossed out figures for what this would cost homeowners: the owner of a $250,000 house would pay $175 more annually, $14.58 monthly while the owner of a $200,000 house would pay $140 more annually, $11.67 monthly.
The owner of a $150,000 home, more typical for Cheney, would pay $105 more annually, $8.78 monthly. Essentially for the price of a Bellybuster with medium fries and drink, we can ensure we have enough first responders to safely meet our needs that are equipped with good, updated equipment.
That makes a lot of sense because as Cheney grows, and Eastern Washington University grows, the demands on our first responders also grow, creating not only safety concerns for us, but also for them. According to the Cheney Police Department’s September Monthly Accountability Report, patrol calls for service were 6,313, almost 400 more than at the same time last year and almost 1,000 more than through September 2013.
Total calls to Cheney dispatch have risen each year, topping 55,000 for the first time in 2014, while fire calls rose to 1,342. There are other numbers to consider, such as what it might mean to people’s homeowners insurance should the Fire Department’s aging equipment impact its ability to respond, and thus reduce the city’s fire rating.
Cheney has always supported its public safety personnel, and we would hope that goodwill shines through Nov. 3. But there also needs to be some trust in city officials to keep their word.
As the ballot language states, the money from the levy lid lift goes to the city’s general fund, which is also the fund that the administration, finance and municipal court departments pull from, along with some aspects of parks and recreation. They also have needs they would like met, and voters have a right to be leery that money supposed to go to hoses and radios might get siphoned off to pay for chairs and new copiers.
Cheney officials from the mayor on down have pledged public safety needs will be the city’s main priority should voters approve lifting the levy lid. We need to take them at their word, while also keeping a watchful eye.
Because public safety, the safety of everyone, is nothing that anything should come in the way of being properly provided.
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