[08/07/01] Warren County residents will soon see phone bills rise to help fund E-911. At the same time, managers of the dispatching service are asking the county and city to kick in an additional $108,767 for dispatchers’ salaries.

Telephone surcharges for 911 will be increased by 20 cents for residences and 34 cents per line for businesses in the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. The Warren County Board of Supervisors approved a request by 911 supervisor Lynn Marsalis Monday for the rate increase.

As conceived, centralizing emergency dispatching using specifically trained personnel, Caller ID and other enhancements, would be funded by phone surcharges. Voters here agreed to pay the charges in 1989, but general fund supplements have been paid every year.

“You would need to double the population of Vicksburg for us to make enough off of the surcharge to fund 911 as it is,” Marsalis said.

The new per-line rates will be $1 a month for residences and $2 a month for businesses That rate is the highest allowed by state law. Cell phone users are also charged $1 a month to help fund emergency services.

“The purpose of the increase is to try and stay current with equipment and technology,” Marsalis said. The increase is expected to generate an additional $240,000 a year.

Marsalis also asked the city and county to take over the cost assumed by 911 four years ago when three additional dispatchers were hired. That agreement allowed the county to pay for three dispatchers, the city to pay for seven, and 911 was responsible for four, which cost them over $100,000 and depleted a reserve, Marsalis said.

“It used up all 911’s funds which are generally used for technological improvements and updates,” he said.

Prior to that agreement, the county paid for four dispatchers and the city paid for eight.

Marsalis asked the boards to again take over the entire cost, with the county being responsible for 25 percent and the city for 75 percent.

“We’ve been able to save both the city and county money by having a consolidated dispatch,” said District 4 Supervisor Bill Lauderdale.

Supervisors agreed to allocate $95,258 to E-911 for employee expenses for the next fiscal year making the city responsible for $285,776.

City officials have no say about the phone surcharges, but will have to decide whether to increase the 911 supplements.

“Why can’t 911 be fully funded on it’s own tax (surcharge)?” asked Mayor Laurence Leyens at the meeting.

Marsalis said that even with the increases approved by supervisors, the phone surcharges would not bring in enough revenue to avoid a supplement. The proposed budget for 911 for the 2002 fiscal year is $840,107, including increases of $13,508 from the county and $95,259 from the city for a total city allocation of nearly $300,000.

“These are the best projections,” Marsalis said. “By the city and county picking up the cost, this will allow us to begin building up our reserves.”

Marsalis also complimented the local operation, calling it among the best in Mississippi.

“I would put this communication center up against any in the state,” Marsalis said. “We’ve had very few complaints, no dropped calls, and 98 percent of our calls are answered within 5 seconds.”

No action was taken by the city board Monday, but Leyens said he expected the city to take the matter up again at the next board meeting on Friday.

“I don’t anticipate any problems I just need to understand it first,” Leyens said.

The city and county have several interlocal agreements for shared services including E-911, ambulance and the Riverfront Park. In one of those agreements, the two governing bodies agree to share expenses for services used by both county and city residences.

Any interlocal agreements between the city and the county must be approved before the Oct. 1 start of the new fiscal year and included in budgets. City and county officials are currently in the process of preparing budgets and setting millage rates, the rate used to charge property taxes.

County supervisors have already said they will consider a change in the millage rate for the next fiscal year while city officials have given no indication of which way their tax rates will go.

Officials with the Vicksburg Warren School District have already announced plans to raise tax rates that fund local schools by 4 mills, the maximum allowed by state law without a public vote.