Voters asked to fund 911 center
When the 911 dispatch center for Flathead County was consolidated as part of an interlocal agreement in 2009, it was determined that a future funding committee should be formed to plan a way to sustain funding for the dispatch center.
The future funding committee, comprised of elected officials from the county and Kalispell, Whitefish and Columbia Falls, has now proposed a special emergency communications district that will appear on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Simply, the ballot will ask voters: Should we adopt a special emergency communications district that will provide funding for the 911 dispatch center?
Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said that the initial agreement for the 911 dispatch center left no room for capital improvements such as upgrades in technology or replacement of equipment.
The computers that receive the 911 calls and the software that allows dispatchers to communicate with police, fire and medical personnel in an emergency, is running 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The equipment has not been upgraded since the center’s opening in 2010.
“Technology changes,” Curry said. “Equipment wears out, you have to buy new computers, you have to buy new software, you need new servers... all of those things. There really was no mechanism to fund it.”
Curry said that every year at budget time, the 911 center would submit a proposal with an increase in the budget, which would in turn be shot down by the three incorporated cities.
“If nothing else, salary goes up because of cost of living,” Curry said. “The cities would always say, ‘We don’t have any more money. We’re at our cap.’”
The funding commitee looked at numerous options, including a vehicle license plate fee and federal funding. The committee finally landed on the special emergency communications district as its best option.
The district would be funded with a flat annual fee similar to the way the county solid waste district is funded. The maximum fee would be $25 per residential unit and $50 for each commercial unit, up to a maximum of 30 units for each commercial property. These fees will show up on property taxes.
The budget for a five-year period is $3.9 million annually, $1.8 million of which will be raised by the district. That number was reached by taking the anticipated annual budget and working backward from current funding that relies on a county levy as well as special fees, Curry said.
Because the 911 center is of equal benefit to anyone who calls it during an emergency, the funding committee sought a formula that recognized that value and didn’t penalize anyone unduly.
“That’s one of the advantages, I think, of this program,” Curry said. “It’s fair and equitable. The way we’re doing it right now, arguably, is not. It was the best they could come up with when the center was built to fund it, but it’s not a good long-term solution to keep doing it the way we are.”
In particular, the proposed district will erase a double-taxation issue created by the current funding process.
The 911 center is now funded by county and city taxes, so if you live in Kalispell, Whitefish or Columbia Falls, you’re paying for the 911 center through city taxes as well as county taxes.
“This is even across the board,” Curry said of the ballot proposal. “This is every resident in the county, even renters paying through their rent. Everyone has the same access to the 911 system, so this seemed like the most fair way to do it.”
Curry joined County Commissioner Pam Holmquist, county administrator Mike Pence, Kalispell Mayor Mark Johnson, Whitefish Police Chief Bill Dial and 911 Center Director Elizabeth Brooks in a meeting with the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board on Tuesday.
Dial summed up the plea to voters succinctly, “It’s not about taxation. It’s not about fees... It’s about service.”