All-in-one 911?

All-in-one 911?

County, West Memphis could consolidate services ahead of state mandate

news@theeveningtimes.com

Crittenden County would like to re-start talks with West Memphis about consolidating 911 services before the state mandates the change be made.

Justice of the Peace Vickie Robertson attended a workshop at the recent Association of Counties meeting about 911 and told the Quorum Court that it’s only a matter of time before the state forces counties to switch to having only one 911 center or Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) to save money.

“One of the things they are really pushing is they are trying to limit it down to one PSAP per county,” Robertson said. “We’ve got two. We’ve got West Memphis and we’ve got Crittenden County.” A PSAP is the answering point where 911 calls are routed. There are 126 PSAPs in Arkansas, but the state only provides partial funding toward their operation costs. The system was originally set up for 911 to be funded by fees collected on land lines. But since the advent of the cell phones, more and more customers have dropped their landlines and are using cell phones which are taxed at a lower fee than landlines.

Landline customers pay $4.80 a month compared to only 69 cents for cell phone users.

The decrease in landlines has left counties scrambling to make up the funding difference. The county only received $180,000 in 911 taxes, but it costs the county almost $500,000 to operate the 911 center.

State officials are considering consolidating some of the PSAPs statewide to save money.

Robertson said one of the examples they used in the seminar was Indiana. Indiana has a population of 6.6 million and has less PSAPs than the entire state of Arkansas.

“They have a population of over six million people and have less PSAPs than our state,” Robertson said. “We only have three million people.”

Robertson said it would be a good idea for the county to start talking to West Memphis about consolidating the two 911 centers before the state steps in and makes them.

“We’re hoping we can go back and start talking to the City of West Memphis before we get to a point where the state forces us to combine,” Robertson said.

“I think it will be a lot better on us if we come up with an agreement ahead of time as opposed to being forced to do it.”

Justice Lorenzo Parker agreed.

“It would give us time to plan and not ‘this is what you have to do,’” Parker said.

County Judge Woody Wheeless, who was also in the same workshop as Robertson, said he agrees that consolidating the two 911 centers needs to be done.

“I think it is a very important project for us,” Wheeless said. “I think at some point we are going to be successful making it happen. But I agree, the governor is definitely pushing for one PSAP.”

Wheeless pointed out that Craighead County has one PSAP and serves over 100,000 residents.

“And it works great for them,” Wheeless said. “So when you start duplicating the same job, I think there are ways you can make it work better across the state.”

The state is also considering raising the 911 fees on cell phones.

“Cell phones have just taken over the market,” Wheeless said. “Landlines are going away. So every county is losing money on the 911 system. We’re having to supplement the 911 system and we’re having to supplement it quite a bit to break even. We’re hoping at some point they get legislation passed next year that that will go away and will be self sustaining so we won’t have to prop it up.”

By Mark Randall