The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON—The Board of County Commissioners on Monday announced the discontinuation of non-contracted services to the City of Dayton in the areas of Emergency Management and Dispatch and Law Enforcement for non-criminal and non-emergency calls. Non-contracted services include calls such as dog bites, abandoned vehicles, and city code violations.

The reason the County gives for the discontinuance is due to unresolved contract negotiations with the City. The County claims fees to the city have not been increased in 13 years and is requesting an increase to fees for certain County services as it looks to mitigate budget shortfalls.

The City issued a response to the County on Monday.

The Interlocal Agreement between the City and County for Law Enforcement and Dispatch Services was originally entered into in January 2007. At that time the City agreed to pay the County an annual fee of $269,998 for services.

Only seven years ago, a mutually agreed upon Continuation of Services Agreement for Fiscal Year 2013 increased the annual fees, periodically, to $337,428, according to City Administrator Trina Cole.

The City said a meeting to discuss the agreement took place in November 2017. At that meeting, the City requested information about the cost of services being provided by the County under the agreement.

That information was not provided to the City and further requests were made in January and June of 2018.

When the County asked to renegotiate the agreement in May 2019, the City responded by pointing out the County had not provided the requested information necessary to understand the County’s proposal that the City pays 45 percent of the County’s annual law enforcement budget, 35 percent of the County’s annual dispatch budget, and 35 percent of the County’s annual district court budget.

There are some areas of concern.

The City doesn’t believe it should pay for services already funded by grants from the state of Washington. And the City doesn’t believe it should be asked to pay a share of law enforcement services having no connection to the City. An example of these are matters relating to watercraft and/or aquatic safety.

“The City has requested data and additional information from Columbia County so that it may better evaluate the proposal. To date, the City’s request for data and additional information has gone largely unanswered. The City’s desire to understand the service about which it is being asked to pay is sincere and appropriate.”

"The City hopes the parties can engage in a meaningful and productive manner with regard to these requests in the interest of achieving successful negotiations.”

The January 1, 2009, Interlocal Agreement for Emergency Management Services between the City and County was set to renew in five-year increments beginning on January 1, 2019.

In their press release on Monday, the Board of County Commissioners stated they are hopeful that a new agreement for the contracting of services can be reached by the County and the City.

The County has promised no interruption in response to criminal complaints, active criminal calls, or emergency response pursuant to July 1, when the discontinuance takes place.