By Larry Lannan
When you need help in an emergency, you call 911. You don’t think about the cost of the service. The Fishers Town Council has been thinking about the cost, which has gone from zero to over $1 million in only a few years.
Fishers is part of the Hamilton County 911 system. As a result, Fishers is assessed an amount of money to participate.
In calendar year 2014, the Town of Fishers was assessed $722,000. The Fishers assessment for 911 service in 2015 is expected to be surpass $1 million.
Why has the local cost of 911 service risen from zero to over $1 million in only a few years?
The rapid growth of Fishers is one reason. When a municipality’s citizens use the service more often, the assessment rises.
The other major reason is the fact that the tax we pay as part of our phone bills has not kept up with the cost of the service. Cell phone users pay much lower 911 fees compared to land line connections. As a result, local governments must pick up the tab.
The 911 service is very labor intensive. You need operators answering 911 calls with the skills to clarify the emergency and dispatch the help needed as quickly as possible.
If you call a company for customer service, you often talk to someone on the other side of the globe. I don’t think you want 911 service to be outsourced outside the United States.
Keeping 911 equipment up to date with the latest technology also is expensive.
When Fishers must pay $1 million in 2015, that’s $1 million less to pay for our local law enforcement needs, parks and streets.
Should the money to pay for 911 service come from the taxes we pay for county and city government? Or should we be paying an excise tax on our phone bills that pay the entire cost of the 911 service?
The Indiana General Assembly is tasked with making that decision. State lawmakers are obviously hesitant to increase excise taxes on phone bills to pay for 911 service.
However, if the legislature fails to act, the cost of this service will fall on our local government entities already strapped for money under the property tax caps.
When you call 911, you want someone to answer and send help. The question is, how do we pay for it?
