The Changing Face of 911 in Kentucky For the 116 Kentucky 911 centers, keeping up with the calls is becoming a challenging job. The challenge isn't just implementing new technologies to manage wireless and computer generated 911 calls, but more importantly, just figuring out how to keep the centers funded. "A major issue we're facing is keeping rural 911 centers adequately funded," said John Patterson, Kentucky's Wireless 911 Coordinator. "Our centers are taking more and more cell phone calls, but their funding streams are often shrinking. The problem is, many rural centers don't have a sufficient tax base to support their centers. For Kentucky's more densely populated counties and cities, it's not as large of a concern." Charges for home and business users with a regular phone line range from as little as $.30 cents a month to as much as $3.00 a month. Even at the higher local surcharge amounts, many rural centers are still under funded. Cell phone users are charged a standard $.70 a month statewide by wireless carriers. That amount helps, but still falls way short of the need in rural Kentucky. Delivering Funding to Kentucky's 911 Centers Patterson feels that as a state, we need to rethink how 911 is funded and organized. According to Patterson, "Cities and counties want local control of their public communications. It's the way they've always operated. But I think sometime in the future, we may need to look at combining 911 centers to create adequate tax bases, increasing local land line surcharges, increasing the wireless surcharge, or some combination of each. With today's technology, regional centers could manage 911 calls and increase the interoperability necessary for major public safety events. And with more population paying into one center, the funding problems could be reduced or eliminated." For more information on Kentucky's 911 centers go to: Courier Journal article: http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2002/09/01/ke090102s268435.htm Commercial Mobile Radio Board Website: http://cmrsboard.state.ky.us/ -- end --	Home September, 2002 Techlines Archive
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