More than $180,000 was approved by Island County commissioners last week for equipment that will enable county staff to better communicate during an emergency.

The Public Works Department’s county-wide radio system upgrade project was approved for three different allocations: $26,404 to Aviat Networks for equipment; $55,921 to Hutton Communication for components; and $100,186 to Day Wireless Systems for base radios.

Budget Director Elaine Marlow said that much of the project’s labor and other costs will be absorbed by ICOM’s funding, a tax on telephone service.

However, ICOM is limited in what it can spend those tax dollars on, so county leadership stepped in to include the necessary equipment upgrades in its 2015 budget, Marlow said.

The upgraded radio technology will be very similar to that used by Island Transit and emergency services. It will also serve as a backup network for the Island County Sheriff’s Department.