It's time to nail down the costs

By The Gazette Editorial Board

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Months into operation, there are more questions about how much it costs to run the Johnson County joint emergency communications center. It's time for clear answers.

Some Johnson County Supervisors have long-expressed concerns over the emergency center's spending.

Now center policy board members are saying they'll ask for taxpayers to pony up for significant increases in next year's budget.

Just how much still is up in the air. A public hearing on the proposed budget will be held on Friday.

Recently, the center's seven-member policy board - including representatives from the county, Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty and the Johnson County Emergency Management Agency - discussed a draft fiscal year 2012 budget that would have called for a 43 percent increase over this fiscal year. That's an extra $1 million in spending.

43 percent? While a recession lingers? When many public departments may be lucky just to have a flat budget?

The board quickly adjusted those numbers down - saying that was part of their plan all along.

Still, they are proposing considerable levy increases to cover the communication center's operations next year.

Iowa City Council member Mike Wright, who chairs the intergovernmental policy board that oversees the communications center, recently told a Gazette reporter he'd like to see the levy increased from this year's 70 cents to 77 cents per $1,000 of taxable value.

When communications center leaders were criticized for drafting a large budget last year, they said they had to build in significant reserves because they had only educated estimates about appropriate staffing and costs.

So it's concerning to see them come back again to propose considerable increases for next year - especially given the current economic climate.

We would expect some adjustment as the intergovernmental venture gets off the ground. But the communications center's board should have the resources and experience needed to make more accurate estimates.

And they must be realistic in their requests of already overburdened taxpayers.

When the joint emergency communications center opened this past summer, it marked a big step forward in public safety communications for the county.

It combines the old Iowa City and Johnson County dispatch systems, and soon will combine radio systems, to serve all the public safety departments and emergency medical personnel in the county. That makes it easier for police, firefighters and emergency responders to cooperate when responding to emergencies.

But county residents deserve to know, and know soon, what it's going to cost to operate - efficiently - this new communication tool.