Boone County Fiscal Court to discuss plans to fund communications upgrade, blended option likely

By Mark Hansel
NKyTribune managing editor

The Boone County Fiscal Court is expected to discuss options that will cover the cost of a new communications system for first responders and fund the 911 Dispatch Center at tonight’s regularly scheduled meeting.

Boone County Judge-executive Gary Moore said that based on input from the community, the Fiscal Court will likely pursue a blended option that should satisfy most residents and businesses.

Moore

“I would start by just cutting to the chase and saying, I think where the commissioners and I are at this point is that we want to recommend a funding source that will simply cover the cost of the communications system and the cost to operate the 911 Dispatch Center,” Moore said.

The Fiscal Court, which includes Moore, and county commissioners Charles Kenner, Charlie Walton and Cathy Flaig, has been working with county staff to identify funding options for the upgrade.

Options that have been proposed to fund the system and dispatch center include an adjustment in the tax rate, the imposition of a dwelling unit fee, or revenue restructuring.

The most controversial of the options has been the revenue restructuring which includes an 8 percent insurance premium tax rate.

The insurance premium tax would fund tax reductions for the county in the real property tax rate and the tangible property tax rate for businesses. It would also eliminate the county motor vehicle tax and the 911 landline fee.

The net revenue from this option would fully fund the radio system and the 911 system and potentially provide additional revenue that would be restricted to the capital fund for road and infrastructure needs.

“At this point we would be moving away from any elimination of other taxes or reduction of other taxes, with the exception of the 911 landline fee,” Moore said. “That really makes the decision much simpler because while looking at some revenue restructuring that would potentially make us more business friendly or maybe shift the cost of funding of the system away from the residential tort business, that just didn’t seem to appeal to the broader audience.”

While there was plenty of discussion among residents about the 8 percent insurance premium tax rate, it sometimes did not include an explanation of the taxes that would be reduced or eliminated.

“Maybe it was a little complicated for people to understand,” Moore said.

A blended option to fund only the upgrades might include, for example, a $20 dwelling fee and a 3 percent insurance premium.

“You could still do a blend and keep both rates very, very low,” Moore said. “The numbers dramatically drop if you are just funding the system.”

The three funding options proposed by the Boone County Fiscal Court to fund upgrades to the communication system for first responders and an explanation of the insurance premium tax scenario. The Fiscal Court is expected to support a blended option (click to enlarge).

A power point presentation that explains the need for the new system is available on the county website and it also provides details about the funding options. It will be used by county staff to draft a first reading of an ordinance that will be presented to the Fiscal Court for consideration.

If Fiscal Court members agree to the framework for a funding mechanism tonight, a first reading would likely be scheduled for March 21. A second reading and an opportunity to vote would then be placed on the agenda for the April 18 meeting.

“The reason for that time frame is that I would like to have a funding source identified before we issue a purchase order for several million dollars,” Moore said.  “One other thing that we will know by the time we get to the second reading is the exact cost of the system. We still feel that an annual debt service of about $800,000 (for 10 years) is right on what we are going to need based on what we’ve seen from the bids so far.”

One thing that there has not been much debate about is the need to upgrade the communication system for first responders.

The system currently used by the county is outdated and limits the ability of first responders to communicate between departments. Communications issues also exist among members of the same department in rural areas and inside of buildings.

“While the rural areas are where there are some lack of communication for first responders, I believe (some) are missing the point that the coverage is inadequate for inside of structures, which exists over the entire county now,” Moore said. “The bids that we are seeing will definitely address all of the major things that we are trying to accomplish in eliminating lack of service and improving service.”

In September, first responders and leaders from Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties met and agreed to support a $30 million upgrade that would resolve communications and equipment issues throughout the region.

It was determined that by working collaboratively, the counties could also realize significant cost savings.

“A couple of things we do know from looking at the bids is that our hope that a regional approach would save us money and be more efficient does seem to be proving out,” Moore said. “Things we see in evaluating the bids point to substantial savings by working together as a region.”

Some have suggested implementing a restaurant or sales tax, or a tax on cell phones to fund the projects, but Moore said counties do not have the authority to implement those in Kentucky.

There has also been a suggestion that the county should consider absorbing the cost of the upgrades and the funding of the 911 system.

Earlywine

Boone County Administrator Jeff Earlywine said the country already supports the 911 system.

“We subsidize our dispatching service to the tune of $2 million per year,” Earlywine said. “That has grown in the 10 years that I have been here and it’s going to continue to grow. We are absorbing it, year after year as we pay for more of the cost to provide public safety communications systems as land line fees continue to dwindle.”

Moore said the whole purpose of creating the three options to be explored and discussed was to get feedback from the community. He has spoken to about 10 community groups since the options were put on the county website.

“We went out of our way to get public input on this and I always thing it makes the final decision better when you air something and get feedback,” Moore said. “I’ll say that the three options were not my ideas, those came from county commissioners and staff and that’s how those options were created. We’ve heard our constituents loud and clear and you can’t please everyone, so the final outcome may be one that might not please some people.”

For example, an option that just includes a dwelling fee gives the large businesses a bit of an advantage because they are going to pay the same price as an individual house. Insurance premiums would include offsets with the cities, so there are winners and losers in that option.

Moore said he believes most people understand how conservative Boone County has been with taxing and creating revenue to cover costs. He said the county is substantially lower in tax rates for real estate, personal property, and really any category, than its neighbors.

“Through the conservative setting of tax rates and the conservative management on the expense side, we’ve been able to accomplish (many) things and we look at this proposal the same way. How can we accomplish what we need to accomplish in the most effective way?”

Moore would have liked to include funding that would eliminate the motor vehicle tax, but thinks that is off the table now.

“I think that would have really shown leadership, that we would have been the first county in the Commonwealth to eliminate it, and hopefully set the tone for the rest of the dominos to fall to where it might be totally gone,” Moore said. It is a very disliked tax and we know how residents feel about it.”

The Fiscal Court meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Fiscal Courtroom on the first floor of the Boone County Administration Building in Burlington.

The discussion of funding options is expected to come up under old business, toward the end of the meeting and there will be an opportunity for public comment.

Contact Mark Hansel at mark.hansel@nkytrib.com