SPOKANE, Wash. – The City of Spokane called upon (SREC) to make improvements to the organization’s financial practices if the Spokane Police Department is going to join the system.
In an email sent Saturday morning from Spokane’s Director of Communications Erin Hut, the city said that an independent ADCOMM Engineering report showed SREC is improperly governed and may be making financially concerning decisions.
“The organization consistently overestimates expenditures and underestimates revenue, which increases reserves year over year,” Hut said.
Hut went on to cite the report, saying that SREC would have had $10 million in surplus revenues if it hadn’t charged any user fees in the past four years, but instead the organization took home around $33 million in reserves between 2020 and 2023.
SREC was additionally accused of overcollecting revenue from the city of Spokane, which purportedly gives the organization the majority of its annual revenue despite the city accounting for less than half of the county population.
“While the city of Spokane accounts for just over 42% of the County population, data from the Department of Revenue included in the ADCOMM report shows that taxes generated within the City of Spokane actually make up roughly 65% of SREC’s annual revenue,” Hut said.
While the the Spokane Police Department uses its own dispatch system. The city says that police won’t move over to SREC’s framework unless the proposed changes are made. Mayor Lisa Brown cited the independent report in a letter addressed to SREC’s board.
“I am hopeful that we can resolve these issues and move to a fully regional system, and I look forward to your response,” Brown said.
NonStop Local KHQ has reached out to SREC and will update this article with additional information.
