On the second day of the three-day Legislative Black Caucus retreat at the Executive Hotel at City Center, 700 Rogers Ave., in downtown Fort Smith, lawmakers and panelists discussed the decreased landline revenue and only incremental increases in the market’s continued shift to wireless phones as the driving factors of inadequate funding for 911 operations in the state.
With cellular devices more prevalent, there are many more emergency calls to 911 about the same issue, and each call must be answered, adding a burden to the system and a strain to personnel.
According to figures from Renee Hoover, administrator of the Arkansas Emergency Telephone Services Board, in 2014, the total expenditures by counties for 911 funding, with five counties not having reported yet, was $48.9 million. Hoover said $16.9 million in fees were collected from mobile devices in 2014, and $6.9 million from land lines, leaving a funding gap of about $25.5 million.
Hoover said to make up the difference, local governmental jurisdictions, such as cities and counties, paid about $16.5 million from their respective General Funds, with the rest coming from various sources.
Arkansas cell users pay 65 cents monthly, and landline users are assessed a 5 percent fee on their monthly bills, but there is still a gap in funding, Hoover added.
Noting that the national average assessed to cell users is about $1, lawmakers discussed the possibility of a future increase, but some felt uneasy asking taxpayers to contribute more.
“If we are talking about moving it, it’ll be an uphill battle,” state Rep. Fredrick J. Love, D-Little Rock, said. “I just think people will think of this as another tax and not a fee. It’s going to be a fight.”
White County Judge and panelist Michael Lincoln argued that despite a potential fee increase, it would benefit the citizens of the state.
“911 dispatching is a life line that keeps our police officers, EMTs and firefighters in touch with citizens,” Lincoln said. “Cell usage has increased and we’re seeing an increased number of calls. … No one wants a busy signal and if someone calls 911 and gets a busy signal, they’re going to be upset.”
Lincoln added that no call should be taken lightly and that the state should do whatever it can to ensure the public’s safety.
“We need to make sure we’re not losing someone and we need to do whatever we need to do, no matter how tough the battle is,” Lincoln said. “We’ll be in the pit fighting for this.”
But some, including Chris Villines, a panelist and executive director of the Association of Arkansas Counties, said that the state likely couldn’t “fund its way out of the problem” and that it could explore consolidating some of its more than 110 PSAP sites statewide, to reduce the financial burden.
Sebastian County has two primary and one secondary PSAP locations. The Sebastian County Sheriffs Office and Fort Smith Police Department are primary locations; Fort Smith Emergency Medical Services is the secondary location.
Mobile phone calls to 911 PSAPs exceed about 80 percent of the call volume, Emergency Management Director Jeff Turner said.
Legislators also discussed the need for standardizing an address data system that can be used at all 911 PSAP dispatch centers, so that in the event of a natural disaster or other act, first responders will be able to seamlessly and promptly reach affected residents.
Lawmakers also were briefed on the Fort Smith School District’s crisis management plan, including a demonstration of Northside High School’s RAVE Mobile Safety application and Smart911 system. They also toured the Fort Smith Police Department’s dispatch center.
The conference will conclude today with discussions regarding health care and improving economic development opportunities in the black community.
The meeting begins at 9 a.m. at the Baldor Technology Center on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.
©2015 Times Record (Fort Smith, Ark.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
