Warren County supervisors, with at least one dissenting voice, said they want another $1.50 to $2 added to cell phone bills to help pay for 911 dispatch services.

If approved by the Legislature, which convenes, Jan 2. the monthly surcharge would rise to $2.50 or $3.

Supervisors made their request to Sen. Mike Chaney, R-Vicksburg; Rep. George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg; and Rep. Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, who attended their meeting Thursday.

Chaney said that if the county’s legislative delegation receives a letter from the city and county governments requesting the increase, &#8220we would introduce it.”

Warren County voters agreed in 1989 to pay a monthly surcharge on phone bills to fund then-new technology that provided the names and addresses of those who dialed 911 seeking emergency services.

The surcharge, however, has never been sufficient to fund the entire cost of a consolidated city-county dispatch center created when the technology became available.

After a one-year surge to $1.8 million to acquire new equipment, the E-911 center has a budget of about $1.2 million this year. It requires $600,000 from local governments, with the remainder coming from phone surcharges that are now $1 per cell line, $1 per residential line and $2 per business line.

County Administrator John Smith said the use of wired lines is declining and that of cell phones is increasing with the rates of change resulting in a net loss of revenue for the dispatch center.

District 1 Supervisor David McDonald cited E-911 records showing the center receives 57 percent of its calls from cell phones.

&#8220I’m a believer in the people that use something ought to be the ones that pay for it,” McDonald said.

District 2 Supervisor Charles Selmon questioned whether any increase in revenue received should be offset by a corresponding decrease in general taxes.

&#8220This is another tax increase,” Selmon said.

Although many counties have the optional enhanced 911 services, legislators indicated that such an increase might have a better chance of passing as &#8220local and private” legislation. Flaggs cited Republican Gov. Haley Barbour’s stance against new taxes and Chaney said there would be issues to resolve, including whether the state Public Service Commission would allow different areas to impose different fees.

In other requests to legislators, supervisors asked: