Eastside Public Safety Communications Agency (EPSCA)
The Eastside Public Safety Communications Agency (EPSCA) an emergency regional radio access service provider operation, was established on May 26, 1992, by an Interlocal Agreement, pursuant to the Interlocal Cooperation Act, Chapter 39.34 RCW, among the Cities of Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland and Mercer Island (Principals), municipal corporations organized under the laws of the state of Washington. The Interlocal Agreement was amended June 10, 1993, to include the City of Issaquah as an additional principal in EPSCA's governance. The duration of this agreement was for ten years, The Executive Board extended the agreement four different times, since the end of the original agreement, in open regular meetings, through April 1, 2013. Effective March 1, 2013, the Agency was restructured as a nonprofit organization pursuant to Interlocal Cooperation Act, Chapter 39.34 RCW and Nonprofit Corporation Act, Chapter 24.06 RCW, until deemed otherwise by a majority vote of the EPSCA Principals. Majority vote is as outlined in the Interlocal Agreement (ILA) and other governing documents voted on and approved by the Executive Board in regular open public meeting(s).
EPSCA began principal operations of the 800 MHz radio system in December 1995.
EPSCA is governed by an Executive Board (Board), which is composed of the Chief Executive Officers of the Principals. The Executive Board is responsible for review and approval of all budgetary, financial and contractual matters.
An Operations Committee (Committee), composed of the Police Chief and Fire Chief of each Principal, reports to the Board and oversees budget preparation, rates, revenues, expenditures, policies and other operational issues. This Committee also includes representation from non-Principal EPSCA user agencies.
EPSCA has developed an Eastside radio communications system which is integrated with a regional radio communications network. Its capital funding derives from a September 15, 1992 voter-approved King County excess property tax levy of $57,016,764. EPSCA's portion of the levy was $10,004,469.
Operating revenues derive from fees charged to the Principals for communications services and from subscriber fees for communications services.
EPSCA is dedicated to the conservative reliable management of the area wide Public Safety Radio Communications system. Our goal is to provide the highest possible quality of customer service to our public safety and general government customers in a cost effective timely manner. We strive to make available the most up to date advanced technology in an interoperable environment to allow our first responders the voice and data communications they need to effectively do their job in a safe expedient manner.
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