Local police say they need more than cell phone tax would provide

A proposal before the Iowa Legislature would raise the state tax on cell phone bills would raise about $7 million a year – not nearly enough to fund changes in public safety radio systems that must be done by the end of next year.

“If we were able to get this underway shortly we would just meet that deadline,” Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner said today.

Two-way radio users must “narrowband” their systems by Jan. 1, 2013. Federal regulators adopted the requirement at the behest of wireless providers to free up bandwidth for the growing number of wireless devices.

“We've tried to alert people that this is coming,” said Jim Bogner, coordinator of the Iowa Statewide Interoperable Communications Board. ” I think a lot of people have kind of put this off, but we're trying to tell them you've got about one-and-a-half budget cycles to get this done.”

Bogner doesn't have an estimate of the cost statewide, but Gardner said Linn County is likely to spend $10 million to $15 million. He said a consultant working with his office and the Cedar Rapids and Marion police departments should have a design proposal and cost estimate within a few weeks.

“There are agencies out there that have older equipment and are going to have substantial replacement costs,” said Bogner. “Others, they're just going to have tweak it a bit.”

Johnson County opened a new dispatch center last year, and its dispatch system will require only reprogramming to meet the new standard.

Counties fund their radio systems through a surcharge on landline telephones, a revenue source that's declining as users switch exclusively to mobiles. Linn County voters rejected a proposal last November to raise the monthly fee from 25 cents to a dollar.

Once they have a solid estimate, county supervisors could seek another referendum to fund narrowbanding costs, or they could bond for the expense without a public vote.

State Sen. Tom Hancock, D-Epworth, has introduced a bill to boost the state's cell-phone surcharge from 65 cents to $1 a month. The additional $7 million a year would be distributed to local governments through a grant process.

“Sometimes you have to face reality of things and do the right thing,” Hancock said.

Hanock's bill passed the Senate State Government Committee Wednesday and was referred to the Ways and Means Committee. His is so far the only bill addressing narrowbanding costs.

“Unfortunately, I haven't heard of anything (else), and I'm not even sure this is going to have legs,” Hancock said. “Some people just won't vote for any increase.”

“It's not just them wanting to upgrade their equipment,” said Bogner. “This is a federal mandate, and you really need to understand this.”