COLUMBIANA COUNTY Voters to decide on 911 surcharge

Several answering points for 911 calls will be set throughout the county.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- Columbiana County voters will get an opportunity to decide if they want their phone lines hit with a 50-cent monthly surcharge to pay for a modern 911 system.
As expected, commissioners agreed Wednesday to put the surcharge measure on the November ballot.
If approved, the charge will begin appearing on phone bills April 1, although a modernized 911 system may not be in place until 2005.
The county would be one of the last in the state to have an updated 911 system.
The county already has a primitive version, but it lacks a key database and equipment that instantly provide emergency personnel with a 911 caller's address and other crucial details.
The surcharge would raise an estimated $270,000 annually, most of which will be used to equip and staff a primary answering point for 911 calls.
Another funding source
Planners also intend to use a $400,000 fund to equip three to six additional answering points throughout the county, commissioners explained.
The fund is supplied with money from a settlement between the state and Ameritech over a service dispute.
No decision has been made on where any of the answering points will be, although population centers with 24-hour dispatching are likely locations, commissioners said.
A 911 advisory committee is still finalizing details. Voters will know before the fall election where each of the answering points will be, commissioners said.
The surcharge measure will enjoy strong support at the polls, commissioners predicted.
"Everyone we talk to says it's been a long time coming," Commissioner Gary Williams said. "The cost is very minimal for what you're going to get."
To campaign
The Salem Area Chamber of Commerce has promised to campaign for the surcharge's passage.
Although the proposed surcharge is 50 cents monthly, consumers will see more than that coming on their phone bill, depending upon which company supplies their service.
SBC customers will pay 12 cents more monthly than the 50-cent surcharge. Verizon customers will pay 24 cents more, and Sprint customers will pay 32 cents more.
The tacked-on charge covers the phone companies' 911 equipment costs.
On top of that, the companies also will get 3 percent of the revenue produced by the 50-cent surcharge. That share is to pay for the companies' 911 administrative costs.