County’s 911 system needs more money

County’s 911 system needs more money

Wheeless: ‘ We are trying to figure out how to stop the bleeding’

news@theeveningtimes.com

Crittenden County E-911 needs an additional $32,000 to cover its monthly hardware maintenance service agreement on its mapping system.

The good news though, is that the state will pay the county back for about 95 percent of the cost.

E-911 Coordinator Ronnie Sturch told the Quorum Court that the 911 center installed a new $140,000 AT& T mapping system last year.

Part of that agreement — which was signed back in 2015 before he took over — called for an increase in the maintenance fee from $676 a month to $3,000 a month.

The county appropriated $50,000 in the budget, but because of the increase the 911 center only has $142.50 left in the account and a $6,500 bill to pay.

“It increased it by about $30,000 a year,” Sturch said. “That $50,000 would have been adequate if we hadn’t had the increase in the maintenance charge.”

Justice Lisa O’Neal asked whether there was another provider they could swap to.

“Can’t we get the same service cheaper?” O’Neal asked. “Or is AT& T the only option?”

Sturch said the county is locked in to a five-year contract for the service.

“AT& T is the only option because the contract was signed back in 2015,” Sturch said. “Nobody realized it, but the monthly maintenance charge we were paying went from $676 a month to $3,000 a month.”

Sturch said the state PSAPs fund will cover about 95 percent of the cost.

“We will get $28,000 or $29,000 of that back from the state,” Sturch said.

The reimbursement rate is based on the number of cell phone and landline calls received by 911.

According to Sturch, cell phones account for 94.2 percent of all calls to the 911 dispatch center.

A PSAP or Public Safety Answering Points is the an- swering point in a city or county — usually a 911 center — where 911 calls are routed.

The state provides partial funding to 126 PSAPs in the state to help offset the cost of providing 911 service.

Cell phone customers in Arkansas pay about 65 cents a month on their bill and landline users pay a five percent monthly fee to fund 911 statewide.

“We get a certain percentage of that,” Sturch said.

“That’s the money they get from the phone companies themselves. Our wireless calls have averaged for the last three to five years in the 90 to 95 percent range.” That funding hasn’t kept up with the growing number of cell phone users however, and has led to counties and cities having to fund more and more of the operating costs of the 911 centers.

In 2015, local cities and counties paid $48.9 million for 911 services. Cell phone fees generated $16.9 million in fees and landlines $6.9 million in fees leaving a funding gap of $25.5 million.

The county dispatch center only handles calls in Crittenden

County. West Memphis

has its own 911 dispatch call center and splits the PSAP funds with the county.

The state is considering consolidating some of the PSAPs statewide to reduce the financial burden. Some counties have as many as five or six PSAPs.

“The PSAP funding numbers have dwindled and the counties are having to support probably 60 percent of our budget from the general fund,” Sturch said. “We probably only get 40 percent of our budget from the state funds. That’s not the way it was designed. When 911 was set up there were more landlines. But because wireless phones didn’t exist years ago when it was set up, the funding is not near what it was for the fees for wireless customers. We are going to be forced at some point to combine PSAPs.”

Sturch said they met recently with West Memphis to discuss possibly consolidating the 911 service before the state steps in and mandates such measures.

“We are a long ways from consolidation,” Sturch said.

“But it was a good meeting. We are taking some steps to be proactive and get ahead of the state when they come and mandate something.”

County Judge Woody Wheeless said 911 funding has been a hot topic among county judges statewide.

“We are losing money,” Wheeless said. “We supplement it by about $500,000 a year out of county general. So we are trying to figure out how to stop the bleeding. Ronnie is right.

The governor has said he wants to see counties do something proactive by merging together. By merging together the bleeding wont be as bad as it is right now.”

By Mark Randall