Approaching deadline spurs calls for changes to 911 funding
(Harrisburg) — County commissioners across the state are starting to call for changes to a law authorizing a fee on mobile devices used to fund 911 systems, butsome see an impending deadline as an opportunity.
Land line phone users currently pay between a $1.00 and $1.50 a month, depending on the county, to help pay for 911 services.
But, mobile phone users pay a flat $1.00 a month, and those dollars aren’t enough to cover the service’s cost.
Some counties have been forced to make up the difference.
“Even if they only extend it at the current level and really don’t address things, it leaves some counties with major holes in their funding. Dauphin County for one, could be facing in the neighborhood of a 3.4 million dollar shortfall,” saysDauphin County Commissioner Jeff Haste.
Haste says the county could be facing a $3.4 million shortfall next fiscal year, without a wholesale change.
“So when they move forward with the legislation, they really need to think ahead, and think about all the new technology that’s coming on line that can access the system, but does not pay into it now.”
Some have called for simply raising the fee, and including any device that can connect with 911.
Pennsylvania Emergency Management Director Glen Cannon has said the law should be re-written completely to encourage consolidation among municipalities and push more advanced technology.
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