By Mark Hansel
NKyTribune managing editor
The Boone County Fiscal Court is one step closer to approving an ordinance that will allow for improved 911 emergency dispatch services, while identifying an alternate funding source for enhancements to its communications system for first responders.
The Fiscal Court considered two options at Tuesday’s regularly scheduled meeting and chose a dwelling unit fee that would be less expensive for residents and business owners, but would utilize an estimated $6 million in county funds.
Boone County commissioners (l to r) Cathy Flaig, Charles Kenner and Charlie Walton, joined Judge-executive Gary Moore (cover photo) in agreeing unanimously to move forward with a reduced dwelling unit fee to fund PSCC upgrades.
At the March 4 meeting, the Fiscal Court instructed county staff to work toward a proposal that would establish an estimated $90 annual dwelling unit fee, but that number was reduced to $75 with an option agreed upon Tuesday night.
An estimated $75 was to be used to fund the enhancements to the Public Safety Communications Center (PSCC), which provides 911 services. It would also eliminate the need for money set aside in the county budget each year to cover a shortfall in funding for PSCC services.
Currently, the PSCC is funded using a landline fee, but as cell phone use has increased and the number of landlines has diminished, the county has had to increasingly supplement the Center. That cost has now risen to approximately $2 million per year.
The landline fee, which is $2.78 per telephone line, per month, would be eliminated as part of the new funding plan, which is expected to go into effect at the beginning of the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2018.
The dwelling unit fee includes, homes and businesses, as well as individual apartments and each merchant in a strip mall. The implementation in 2018 should ensure that most owners of the latter types of properties have the option to pass the $6.08 cost per month on to tenants, or absorb the fee themselves, when leases are renewed.
An additional $15, per dwelling unit, per year, would have been used to fund necessary upgrades and support the county’s contribution to the development of a regional communications system.
The upgrade will replace the aging system currently in use by the county and develop a regional communications network that will allow for enhanced communications among first responders and other county agencies, as well as those in neighboring counties.
It will also allow for improved transmission in rural areas and inside of buildings where communication is often limited or nonexistent.
Kenton and Campbell counties will contribute an equal amount to the development of the regional system
The $15 annual fee for enhancements would have expired in 10 years when the upgrades were paid for.
At Tuesday’s meeting, county staff presented an option that would eliminate the $15 fee.
The Fiscal Court chose to move forward with that option , but will not take formal action on the ordinance until a second reading next month.
For those with the landlines, the elimination of that fee means the net cost per year for dwellings with one phone line would be $41.64.
The enhancements to the communications system for first responders was estimated at about $8 million, when discussions began on the regional system in September . After meeting with vendors and examining competitive bids for the upgrades, that figure was reduced to about $6 million, which the county will pay for up front if the ordinance is approved, as expected.
Those funds would come from the following sources:
$1 million – Set aside in the current budget year in anticipation of the need to begin exploring ways to upgrade the system
$1.5 million – Expected increase in general fund revenues, over projections, due to a good budget year
$1.5 million – Reserves in the capital improvements budget set aside in anticipation of future road and infrastructure improvements.
$2 million – General fund reserves
Previously, the Fiscal Court had considered three other option to fund the upgrades. An outline of those options and an explanation of how the Fiscal Court chose the dwelling unit fee is available here .
The decision to pay for the communications upgrades reduces the annual dwelling unit fee and does not hurt the county’s bond rating. It also saves the county and residents the interest it would have had to pay to finance the cost of upgrades over 10 years.
There are, however, some drawbacks.
The decision to fund the improvements up front will allow the county reserves to dip below the 25 percent total annual recurring revenue surplus the Fiscal Court has identified as a baseline. In addition, the $1.5 million taken from reserves in the capital improvement budget could result in a delay moving forward on some future projects.
The hope is that with an optimistic economic outlook for the county for the next several years, those funds would be replenished in the near future.
The Fiscal Court is expected to take a second reading on the ordinance at its April 18 meeting. At that time, there will be an opportunity for public comment and the Fiscal Court is expected to formally vote on the ordinance.
Contact Mark Hansel at mark.hansel@nkytrib.com
Judge Executive Gary Moore and company make me ill. After the citizens stopped his insurance premium taxes with a public outcry, the political charlatin is now trying to implement a yearly fee for living in our own residences. Gary Moore makes it clear that this is a fee and not a tax but it will be collected on our tax bills. And all the time the Fiscal Court is proclaiming that they are conservative. We always thought conservatives were for lower taxes and less government.
Two months ago, they “had” to implement an insurance tax. It was designed to generate a surplus, which they planned to spend elsewhere, and was never going to be sunset. This was because, there was “no money”.
We told them No.
A month ago they “had” to charge a $90 a month fee because, and conceded that $15 a month could be sunset after 10 years. They would amortize the purchase for that duration, because; there was “no money”.
We told them no. Again.
Fast forward a month; suddenly, Shazam! There’s money!
I’m not done digging through the books, and holding them accountable, as I’ve been doing these past 3 months.
Call them. Engage them. Let them know you’re still not buying it.
They’re basing operations costs on severely inflated numbers.
Please don’t let me be the only voice in the room.
Good work Aaron Gillum. Perhaps we should demand an independent audit of the operations of Boone County government each and every year.
This tax is going to sink Gary Moore and his cousin Charlie Kenner. Walton just goes along with them most of the time. There is nothing at all obvious about this tax and this system. What is wrong with people just calling the police, sheriff, ambulance, or fire department, if they need them, instead of calling 911 and getting six sheriff cars, two fire trucks, and un-needed ambulance, and a pickup truck with two rolls of firehose, like we got the last time someone down here at Big Bone called. All of that backed up on a one lane road! Where is the big savings? Most people seem to have a phone handy now, why all the big expense and have the whole thing a dinosaur in a few years due to new technology? JUST VOTE NO! Get a new crew in office!