Commission votes to put 911 sales tax on 2016 ballot

BLOOMFIELD -- The Stoddard County Commission voted unanimously Monday morning to allow a fractional sales tax to be placed on the April 2016 ballot to fund Stoddard County 911 Services. If approved, the sales tax would eliminate the fee on land line telephones now in place in the county.

County 911 Services Administrator Carol Moreland asked the commission to approve moving forward with the sales tax issue so that a Citizen's Advisory Committee could be formed. She said she didn't want to form a committee if the issue was not going to be put on the ballot. She said the advisory committee would help determine the amount of the sales tax to fund the service. Moreland had previously submitted estimates of how much anything from one-eight to one-quarter of a cent a sales tax would produce in the county.

Moreland presented each of the three commissioners with a packet of information and graphs showing the downward trend of revenue produced by the fee on land lines. She said while the revenue "has been up and down" over the past few years, the income has decreased by a substantial margin since 911 service was created in the county in 1995. She also said that by the year 2020, there may be no more land lines, which would leave the county without any revenue source for 911 services.

Commissioner Danny Talkington asked if Moreland had received any specific statistics from AT&T about the number of land lines by 2020.

Moreland said she had received nothing definitive from AT&T. She noted that the company was moving away from land lines, and that more than 85 percent of all calls to 911 are now from cell phones.

Moreland said the board thought a sales tax would be fairest way to fund 911 because everyone would pay. She told the commission that the board had been waiting for the legislature to take some action on 911 funding, but for several years it has stalled. She said the past proposal would allow the county to vote to place a fee on cell phones, but the state would retain some of the money for grants and other purposes. She said she believed the sales tax would be the best course for the county.

Moreland said the revenue/expenditure graphs may not be as dramatic as they could be because the 911 Services Board had been very frugal over the past few years. She said the she and the board had made a big effort to make sure revenues had exceeded expenditures, but that would be impossible in the next two years. She noted that an equipment upgrade would be needed in 2017, which would cost roughly $170,000. She also noted that the recorder would have to be upgraded this year at a cost of $11,000. She said a new one would cost $30,000 to $40,000. She also said the service had obtained some grants in the past to help pay for expensive upgrades, but grants were not as available now as they once were.

Talkington said he had obtained 911 financial records dating back to 1999, and they showed a consistent trend downward in terms of revenue.

Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis said one of the biggest obstacles facing the 911 board in asking for a sales tax is informing voters that the Stoddard County Ambulance District (SCAD) is not the same as County 911 Services. He noted that people consider the two agencies one in the same.

SCAD receives property taxes and bills patients for services, but that money does not pay for 911. Moreland said County 911 Services contracts with SCAD to provide the 911 call center, but that comes out of the 911 services budget. She explained that the only source of revenue for 911 is the fee on line lines. She added that there is much more to 911 service than the call center. She said mapping and county road signs were provided by 911 revenue. She said the best way of locating as call to 911 is to have the location on a map. She said to do that mapping, the roads in the county have to be driven and the map updates to show all residences. She also said road signs have to be replaced and funding for those signs comes from 911. She said the townships erect the signs, but they are paid for with 911 funds.

Moreland said Bill Pippins was the first 911 administrator when 911 went on line in 1995. She said she became administrator in 2006. At that time it was the administrator and one full-time employee. She said due to declining revenue, the board opted to do away with the employee position in 2008, leaving the administrator as the only 911 employee.

Moreland said she would proceed to contact citizens in the county to serve on the advisory committee. She hopes the committee is in place to meet with the board at their Aug. 20 meeting.

Mathis asked for a motion to allow the 911 Board to put a sales tax on the April 2016 ballot. The motion was made by Talkington, and seconded by Commissioner Carol Jarrell. It passed by a 3-0 vote.

County Clerk Joe Watson asked if the ballot language would include repealing the fee on telephone land lines, and Moreland said it would.