An alternate funding plan for the Halifax County 911 Center that would eliminate a disputed population credit was put on the table today and will be discussed further by county commissioners.
Board Chairman James Pierce presented the plan in the absence of County Manager Tony Brown.
The plan would be based on call volume and see the credit decreased over the next four years, Pierce said, until no credit is given. The current formula was put in place in 2003 to avoid what some municipalities said was a double tax, “Which I never agreed with,” Pierce said.
Pierce said the county’s cost has continually gone up and has nearly doubled since it started its funding of the center out at $400,000. “What’s glaring to me is the numbers show we’re absorbing all the cost while everyone else is flat,” Pierce said. “Tony has met with the committee a number of times. They can’t come up with a plan.”
The last plan recommended to the county for the upcoming fiscal year was one in which the municipalities split an overage of $24,000 created by those that use the system less under the population formula and one that has meant the town of Scotland Neck pays nothing this year. That, Pierce said, is a short-term fix.
“Right now there is the population factor,” Pierce said. “Tony thinks the fair way is doing away with the population factor and basing it on call volume. You pay for what you use.”
Because going back to a call volume formula would cause a jolt to the biggest users of the 911 Center — Roanoke Rapids would end up paying $267,000 if the county didn’t propose to ease into the new formula — the recommendation is drop the credit over the next four years if approved by commissioners.
If commissioners approve the plan the first year credit reduction would be 25 percent, meaning the increase to Roanoke Rapids would be about $40,000. That would mean the city would pay $141,000 compared to $267,000 if the credit was fully taken away in the upcoming fiscal year. Scotland Neck would have to pay $19,000 a year.
Brown’s position, Pierce said, “Is he wants to put this to the board and move on.”
Commissioner Vernon Bryant said, “It sounds complicated but I think it’s a good plan.”
Said Pierce: “I don’t feel like everyone will like it but it’s fair.”
Pierce said of all the concerns in the matter some municipalities have found a way to circumvent the system. “While the communication system has to be there, Scotland Neck and others are getting away without paying anything,” he said, adding later in the meeting, “If they want to jeopardize the lives of officers that’s their decision.”
Municipalities have the option to pull out of the system with a year’s notice and set up their own communication system. “My point is,” Pierce said, “The county’s cost of the call center is steadily increasing while nobody else’s is. We have to share that cost increase.”
While Commissioner Rives Manning made a motion to go with the temporary funding solution proposed by the 911 Advisory Board last month, his suggestion died for lack of a second.
Before commissioners vote on the matter, they want to take another look at call volume and Commissioner Marcelle Smith said he wanted a better understanding of the population credit. “I have some idea but in my basic math skills I can’t get them (the numbers) to add.”
