Funding crunch, upgrade may bring increase in Linn County E-911 charge

Cell phones and other portable digital devices are delivering a double blow Linn County's police, fire, and ambulance radio systems, and county residents may be asked this fall to raise a tax to fund a major upgrade.

“It's going to be several million (dollars),” said Linn County Supervisor Jim Houser. “People are going to be shocked.”

Houser, chairman of the Linn County E-911 Board, said the board may put a question on November's ballot on increasing the county's 25-cent monthly surcharge to $1. The board meets in executive session Monday at 5 p.m., with the full board meeting at 7 p.m., in  the supervisors' board room at Linn County West in Westdale Mall.

Houser estimates it may cost $12 million to $15 million to meet a Jan. 1, 2013 federal deadline to upgrade public and commercial radio systems. The goal of the new standard is to free bandwidth for steadily growing wireless demands.

“Look at all the cell phone towers,” said Houser. “Everybody's got communications on their hip these days.”

That's the second catch: Iowa's local public-safety dispatch systems are funded mostly through a monthly surcharge on landline telephones, and Iowans are using fewer landlines. Iowans had 2.17 million cell phones last year, compared to 1.9 million in 2007, while landlines declined from 1.48 million to 1.35 million during the same period,  according to Rob Hillesland of the Iowa Utilities Board.

Revenue from Linn County's 25-cent monthly landline fee peaked at $315,606 in fiscal 2007 dropping to $279,852 for the year ending June 30.

The state also collects a 65-cent monthly surcharge on cell phones, distributed to counties under a formula based on their call volume and service area size. Linn County's share of that fund has increased – from $46,681 in fiscal 2006 to $139,789 last year – but not enough to cover the loss of landline revenues and not nearly enough to pay for the improvements required in just over two years.

The E-911 fund carried a $913,567 reserve into the current fiscal year, according to Linn County Budget Director Dawn Jindrich.

Linn County's surcharge may be the lowest in Iowa. The state allows counties to charge up to $1 a month, or up to $2.50 a month with a 20-month limit.

“I didn't think anybody was that low anymore,” said Barbara Vos, E-911 program manager for the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

Boosting the surcharge to $1 monthly would increase E-911 revenue to about $1.2 million a year. Houser estimated it will cost about $2 million to upgrade radios for the county's 18 rural fire departments.

The county now uses a single tower for its emergency radio system. Houser said the new system may require up to 10 towers, although cell phone towers could be used.

With all 99 counties facing the same deadline and revenue crunch, the Legislature may feel pressure to reform the funding stream.

“That's something that's probably going to be discussed in the next few months,” said Vos.