King County Executive Dow Constantine thanked King County voters for their 65-percent approval of funding for a new emergency radio network for first responders.
“A reliable emergency radio network is the lifeline that keeps all of our communities safe, used thousands of times a day by police, firefighters and medics in every corner of our county,” Constantine said in a county media release about the Tuesday vote. “I want to thank the voters of King County for acknowledging the need to replace a dangerously outdated system and ensuring that our first responders have the tools they need to communicate during life-threatening emergencies.”
The count on Tuesday showed 162,458 voters in favor of the measure and 87,527 against, according to King County Elections
The nine-year, $273 million property tax levy lid lift will raise revenue needed to replace the county’s aging emergency radio system. The levy lid lift will be at a rate of not more than 7 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. The cost would be about $21 per year on a $300,000 home.
According to county officials, the system is 20 years old, and given recent population growth and the countless advances in technology since 1995, the system is showing its gray hairs.
Last year, King County system’s provider, the Motorola Company, told county officials that after 2018, it would no longer support any equipment that constitutes the system.
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