Local 911 districts will receive more than $4 million this year from the state Emergency Communications Board.
The money will help fill shortfalls from recent years, improve training and purchase new equipment, directors say, but changes to how the districts are funded still are needed.
“The finger’s been put in the dike for right now,” said Hamilton County 911 Director John Stuermer. “The problem is that it’s a temporary fix.”
The communications board is distributing more than $37 million this year among the 100 emergency communications districts in Tennessee, including the 13 in Southeast Tennessee.
Local districts collect $1.50 for each landline telephone user each month to fund operations, Mr. Stuermer said. For each wireless user in a district, a percentage of a $1 fee is disbursed back to the district from the Emergency Communications Board.