[7/29/04]The Warren County E-911 Commission agreed Wednesday to increase spending to replace aging computers while cutting overall operating costs.

The center’s spending plan for fiscal year 2005, which begins Oct. 1, is about $818,668, 1.8 percent higher than the $804,000 budgeted for this year.

The center’s director, Allen Maxwell, presented the budget to commissioners, who approved it.

If not for plans to replace computers at a cost of $35,000, the budget would have shown a decrease from this year’s, Maxwell said.

The computers are eight years old and have been used as long as they can, he said.

An expected decrease in the center’s telephone bill, from $132,500 to $120,000, represented one of the budget’s largest reductions, Maxwell said.

Commission members voted to approve the budget after an executive session to discuss staff salaries, Maxwell said.

The budget anticipates revenue of $865,282. Last year’s was $860,000.

More than half the income, $490,000, or 56.6 percent, is expected directly from wired and cell phone customers who pay subsidies of about $12 per year per line.

The rest, $361,722 is to come as a subsidy from the two local governments. The split, 65 percent from the city and 35 percent from the county, is expected to continue for the new year.

The center has $505,000 in cash reserve and expects to increase that by about $50,000 next fiscal year.

“We try to keep some money in the bank for emergency conditions,” Maxwell said.

In other matters Wednesday, commissioners:

Changed the name of Elizabeth Street, off Fort Hill Drive, to Down Hill Drive. The homes on the street have been using Fort Hill Drive addresses and, if those were changed to Elizabeth Street addresses, they could be confused with those on Elizabeth Circle, commissioners agreed.

Tabled a request to renumber homes on Rigby Street.

Changed the address of one home on Mundy Street and two on Baldwin Ferry Road.

Named Kilburn Place, a road leading to one person’s property off Floweree Road.

Readdressed part of Woodham Road and named a side road Backwoods Road.