Linn County phone surcharge remains the state's lowest

There aren't any numbers yet, but one result of this week's election will have small-town and rural Linn County residents paying more of their local police and fire departments' bills.

“It”s definitely going to effect my equipment budget, but it's too early to tell how much,” said Palo Fire Chief Jud Starn.

County Measure C, which would have boosted the county's monthly surcharge on landline telephones from 25 cents to $1, failed Tuesday by 58 to 42 percent. The $1 million a year in extra revenue would have helped county agencies meet a January 2013 deadline to convert their radio systems to a new federal “narrowband” standard and to purchase pagers and handheld radios for police, fire, and first responders.

“The smaller communities that voted down this ballot issue are going to be hardest-hit,” said Sheriff Brian Gardner.

With the measure's failure, Linn County's surcharge remains the state's lowest. But the costs will show up in local governments' budgets as the E-911 board that manages the fund drops assistance to their departments.

“We're probably going to have to look at that,” said Hiawatha Fire Chief Mike Nesslage, a member of the E-911 board. “I think the direction of the board is going to be to make the dispatch centers a priority.”

Likely among the first items to go: $78,000 worth of wireless cards for laptops installed in police cars in Cedar Rapids, Marion, Hiawatha, Mount Vernon and other communities, and the Code Red system that allows the sheriff's office to place automated calls to homes in specific neighborhoods with weather alerts and similar warnings.

Gardner said the county pays about $50,000 monthly for Code Red, last used to spread evacuation warnings to Cedar Rapids neighborhoods during the June 2008 flood.

“It's not (used) very often,” Gardner said, “but the problem is, when you want to use it you need it right then.”

Local departments can also probably forget about county assistance upgrading pagers and portable radios to be compatible with the new narrowband radio system.

“The board's going to have to go back to the very basics,” said Supervisor Jim Houser, also chairman of the E-911 board. “That's to maintain the PSAPS and the equipment in them. More costs are going to go back to the individual agencies.”

“PSAP” is shorthand for public service answering point – the county has three, for the sheriff's office and police in Cedar Rapids and Marion.

Nesslage said he expects portable radios for Hiawatha police and fire to cost about $400,000.

Starn said his department's 21 members use pagers with texting capability. One dealer online lists those devices at $69.95 each.

“It won't be too much of a cost difference, other than for our pagers,” said Mount Vernon Fire Chief Dan Gaines.

Gardner noted the E-911 fund also paid for repairs to Walker's radio tower after it was hit by lightning a few years ago.

Even with the spending cuts, Houser expects the E-911 fund to deplete its $913,567 reserve in about two years.

“Just spending down the reserve because your income isn't enough will take you down to the nubbins in a couple years,” he said.

Revenue peaked at $315,000 in fiscal 2007, when consumers' shift to cell phones and wireless devices began to be felt. The quarter-a-month fee raised just $280,000 for the fiscal year that ended June 30.

The state also collects a 65-cent monthly surcharge on cell phones. Linn County received $139,789 from that fund last year.