FORT WAYNE – Allen County will ask for help paying for a new public safety radio system when the state legislature convenes this winter.
The county commissioners and County Council met Thursday to begin laying out the agenda the county will push during the upcoming long legislative session and in summer study committees.
Together, the county and city of Fort Wayne face an estimated payout of $14 million to $25 million to upgrade the computer equipment that runs the local radio system used by police, firefighters and paramedics.
The county collects fees on mobile and landline phones to operate emergency dispatch and to pay for radio and dispatch equipment. That fee revenue is split between the county and Fort Wayne, and a small amount is sent to New Haven.
But those fees don’t cover the total cost of operating dispatch. And they won’t pay for the radio upgrades, County Commissioner Nelson Peters said.
“This has to be at the top of our list because it is such a huge number. We are talking 2012,” Peters said.
After the city and county dispatch centers combine, the county could begin collecting a higher fee. But that would generate only a few thousand dollars more a year, said Beth Garber Lock, the commissioners’ director of government affairs.
“It’s not going to make a dent,” Lock said.
State law limits the county to collecting no more than 3 percent of the monthly access fee for phone service. If that limit were raised to 10 percent, for example, the county could collect an extra $3 million a year, Lock said.
A state legislative committee is expected to study 911 funding this summer, and the committee could make recommendations about fees to be introduced as legislation this winter, Lock said.
Other counties, such as St. Joseph, are also beginning to plan for similar radio upgrades with hefty price tags and no way to pay for them. That added pressure could make it more likely the legislature would act, she said.
The county lobbied for similar changes last year.
Budgetary power
Officials also discussed whether the County Council’s reviews of city and township budgets should be made enforceable or eliminated altogether in cases in which an elected board or council approves the budgets for cities or townships.
Peters said the council should continue to review budgets that are approved by elected boards, especially townships.
Council President Paula Hughes questioned whether the council should take over the budgetary duties of township advisory boards and eliminate those three-person boards – an idea quickly squashed by the commissioners and other council members present.
Eliminating or reducing the scope of township government is frequently discussed by state lawmakers, but meaningful changes have yet to gain widespread support.
Hughes also suggested the county push for a statewide law to ban a marijuana substitute commonly called K2.
