|
911 calls a foul on funding
Jun 19, 2009 (La Crosse Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Wisconsin's dispatch centers are calling for help, and local administrators don't think Gov. Jim Doyle is picking up.
Doyle has proposed an expected $100 million generated over two years by an increased 75-cent monthly 911 surcharge be diverted to local governments to financially protect police and fire departments amid the state's budget deficit.
It's a huge blow to a profession that -- unlike law enforcement and fire departments -- does not benefit from stable funding grants for training and equipment upgrades, said Al Blencoe, La Crosse County's Emergency Services technology coordinator.
"911, in general, has never been embraced by the state as a public safety partner," he said.
La Crosse County dispatch officials argue public safety communications centers need the money to improve employee skills and keep pace with rapidly changing technology without burdening local taxpayers.
"I don't want to take anything from fire and police ... but not at the expense of dispatch centers," said Jay Loeffler, administrator for La Crosse County Emergency Services.
The money was intended to help develop a state 911 office with administrators who would create specific regulations and training requirements, Blencoe said.
"Finally we think it was happening and, boom, it's taken out from under us," Loeffler said.
The La Crosse County dispatch center operates independently from the sheriff's department and is "essentially all built on local taxpayer dollars," Blencoe said. There is little room in current local budgets to support ongoing training and no statewide standards for training development, he said.
"The governor's move has essentially taken away the opportunity (to) create structure and funding that would help the 911 industry in Wisconsin," Blencoe said.
A sunset clause in Doyle's proposal would reroute the surcharge to dispatch centers in two years.
The state would not be able to get any piece of $43.5 million that the National 911 Office is doling out in coming months if the surcharge funds are not used for 911 centers. When Congress created the grant program in 2004, it prohibited states that use 911 surcharge funds for other purposes from receiving the federal funds.
"Not only are we missing out on some funding that might have been, but we will not be eligible for future federal grants," Loeffler said.
The Wisconsin State Telecommunications Association applauded the Senate's vote Wednesday to support creating a new 911 grant program that could be established in July 2011 as part of the 2009-11 budget.
The Wisconsin State Journal contributed to this report.
To see more of the La Crosse Tribune or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/. Copyright (c) 2009, La Crosse Tribune, Wis.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email
tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax
to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave.,
Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
|
INDUSTRIES
Activate Email 
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO East, January 20-22, 2010. Miami, FL.
