Janice CasteelCLEVELAND, Tenn. – A new Bradley County 911 agreement that calls for phased increases in funding and more dispatchers is up for a vote Monday in the Bradley County Commission.
The county now contributes $450,000 a year, and the current 911 agreement expires Dec. 31. The proposed four-year agreement requests up to $550,000 from Bradley County in 2016-17 and up to $650,000 for each of the two years after that. Future funding calculations will include audited expenditures, instead of projected costs, according to the proposal.
The new agreement continues a longstanding formula that requires Bradley County and Cleveland to each provide 49.5 percent of the 911 district funding, while Charleston contributes 1 percent.
In a recent meeting, the Cleveland City Council voted 7-0 to approve the city’s share of the agreement, which matches the proposal before the County Commission.
Despite their “yes” votes, Vice Mayor George Poe and Councilman Richard Banks both expressed reservations about the financial burden upon city residents.
City taxpayers pay a “disproportionate share” in 50/50 funding agreements between the city and county, Banks said. They foot the city portion of the bill with their city property taxes and their county property tax revenues account for about 60 percent of the county’s portion, he said.
“I’ve said it several times that the city needs its own 911 system,” said Poe, who suggested the possibility of using 911 funding to hire the city’s own dispatchers.
City Manager Janice Casteel said the intent of the original 911 agreement, which dates back to 1997, was to bring all the city and county emergency service dispatchers under one roof and save some money.
She said the funding formula, which considers populations and calls for service, indicates most emergencies occur in the city.
“When you roll all that out into a formula, it comes out pretty close to 50/50,” Casteel said.
Nearly 70 percent of 911 calls are for city responders, said Danny Lawson, director of Bradley County EMS and chairman of the 911 board.
The agreement calls for increasing the number of dispatcher positions from 21 to 22 in 2018-2019 and adding another dispatcher position in 2019-2020. Bradley County 911 projects a need to increase the dispatcher total to 27 by 2023-2024.
Lawson said dispatcher numbers have remained static despite growing demand for services.
The agreement’s phased approach will also help Bradley County 911 avoid the need for occasional supplemental funding to prevent possible mandatory state oversight, Casteel said.
“This plan doesn’t call for an additional dispatcher until the third year,” Lawson said. “It doesn’t put us in the black until possibly the third year.”
Paul Leach is based in Cleveland. Email him at paul.leach.press@gmail.com.