News

County still looking for E-911 deficit solution

By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
Friday, November 21, 2008 9:35 AM EST

CASSOPOLIS - The Michigan Association of Counties hopes to get "corrective legislation" for E-911 funding adopted during the Legislature's lame-duck session, Cass County Administrator Terry Proctor said Thursday.

"The House has passed a bill called H.B. 6070, which sets up a new system for 911," Proctor advised the Board of Commissioners. "Who knows what will happen on it in the Senate between now and Christmas? For Cass County, it's still part of the continuing saga because if it's passed and found to be constitutional, the current surcharge on cell phones and devices, which the Public Service Commission decided at $1.18, that amount can be grandfathered. Then the surcharge can be increased up to $3 a month per device through a vote of the people. As you know, Cass County has had a number of votes of the people and have approved the surcharge, which the Legislature then arbitrarily took away the surcharge that was approved by the people in Cass County. Now, they're saying if it passes the Senate and goes into law, we can go back to the people for another increase in the surcharge. The only thing is, we don't have any countywide elections next year. I guess we either have to call and pay for a special election or we have to suffer. There's no plan. The very least of it is that the House passed a bill that goes over to the Senate and, hopefully, by Christmas, we'll have a bill passed by the Senate and signed by the governor so we can try to work on pieces of that in January and February as to what Cass County will do.

"Without that," Proctor added, "the current system, with the way the Legislature did it, the surcharge is insufficient to cover the costs of 911 in Cass County. This board has had to subsidize that from other funds and will have to do that as well until such time that there is a vote of the people again to raise the surcharge beyond $1.18 - an arbitrary figure the Public Service Commission forced down our throats."

Appeal of that decision is still working its way through the courts, Proctor said.

"It's scheduled for a hearing on that court suit by a number of counties in February. We're running a deficit in that fund for the second year in a row because of what the Legislature did to us."

Also, E-911 funding would come up all over again in another six years unless it's taken before the people as a statewide constitutional amendment and "we fix it once and for all, sort of like stem cell research or medical marijuana," which appeared on the Nov. 4 general election ballot.

"It's been long and painful, to say the least," Proctor said.

Commissioner David Taylor, D-Edwardsburg, asked state Rep. Rick Shaffer, R-Three Rivers, about the smoking ban.

"On Sept. 23," Shaffer said, "and it takes 56 votes to pass a bill in the House, we had 54 for to 49 against and 11 bipartisan representatives sat in their seats and did not vote. That issue is going to be brought back to us yet in the lame-duck session, I've been told. The compromise may be the three Michigan casinos, allowing smoking. Then the votes would probably be there. The governor's indicated she's anxious to get a bill she can sign. I kind of think it will be resolved yet this session."

Proctor also announced that Sandy Gower, grants and projects manager, secured a $2,000 Charles S. Mott Foundation for a four-hour training of the new Land Bank Authority.

Print this story   |   Email this story