City, county representatives meet with E-911 board to discuss funding issues

Speaking to the E-911 Dispatch Board Tuesday, Larry Green, left, explained the city’s desire to drop administering the dispatch center’s payroll and accounting services. Listening to Green, from left, board secretary Joe Prewitt, Debbie Carter, dispatch director; Sheriff Ed Mattingly, magistrate Jeff Lear.

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015, 5 p.m. — Representatives of Nelson Fiscal Court and the City of Bardstown met with the E-911 Dispatch Board Tuesday to discuss the board’s finances and the city’s earlier decision to stop administering the dispatch center’s finances effective Dec. 31, 2015.

City of Bardstown representatives from left, Tracy Hudson, Larry Green and Kerry Greenwell faced the E-911 Dispatch Board at Tuesday’s meeting.

The meeting was the first time in over a year that City of Bardstown and Nelson Fiscal Court representatives were both present at a dispatch board meeting.

The dispatch board’s budget ended fiscal year 2015 with a deficit, which the city covered from its general fund in order to end the year with a balanced budget. Larry Green, the city’s human resources director, told the board the city’s auditor recently questioned if the city should be handling the dispatch center’s finances when the city had no direct control over how the board spent its money.

Late last month, the city council’s finance committee agreed to put the dispatch board on notice the city would no longer handle the board’s finances effective Dec. 31. Green told the board the finance committee made the decision based on input from its auditor, and the fact the board failed to submit a revised 2015-16 budget as had been requested.

Judge Executive Dean Watts told Green he felt partly responsible for the deficit issue, since county government pays 60 percent of the dispatch board’s budget not covered by 911 revenues, while the city pays the other 40 percent. He assured Green that the county would make good on the county’s share of the board’s budget deficit.

Judge Executive Dean Watts asked city government to continue administering the dispatch center’s payroll and accounting through the end of the 2015-16 fiscal year on June 30, 2016.

The dispatch board now has a deficit of about $64,000, and Watts suggested that once a formal account is completed, the city and county can get it settled.

“The sooner the better,” Watts said. “Otherwise, that number may continue to grow.”

Green told Watts that the deficit won’t grow past Dec. 31 because the city won’t be handling the dispatch center’s finances.

Watts said he disagreed that Dec. 31 was the best time to make such a change because both government entities operate on fiscal year budgets that end June 30.

Watts asked the city to continue its arrangement to handle the dispatch center budget until the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 2016. At that time, the dispatch center finances would be taken over by county government.

Green suggested the board respond to the mayor and council in writing with its proposal for how to move forward.

The board approved a motion to send the City of Bardstown a letter requesting it continue administering the dispatch board budget until the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 2016. The board also approved sending a letter to Nelson Fiscal Court and asking county government to take over administering the board’s finances as of July 1, 2016.

The board also approved a request by to request Nelson Fiscal Court to explore options to provide future funding of the dispatch center.

DISPATCH FINANCES. The dispatch center’s budget deficit is not due to overspending, board secretary Joe Prewitt said. The revenue the dispatch center receives from 911 landline fees dropped by $100,000 between 2012 and 2014.

The center’s expenses have been fairly flat, but the loss of the 911 landline revenue means that the board had to ask the city and county for additional money to make up for the loss of that 911 revenue.

Prewitt acknowledged the board knew the city requested an amended 2015-16 budget, but the dispatch center’s future was uncertain until the city and county signed an agreement to continue the joint city-county dispatch service for the next year. The agreement they signed also added $24,000 to the dispatch center’s budget deficit.

“It wasn’t that we were ignoring it or putting it off,” Prewitt said. “We just didn’t know what we had to work with. Now we do.”

Board chairman Fred DeWitt added that the board has been discussing how to reduce its expenses, which amount to reducing payroll. The board voted at an earlier meeting not to fill two full-time dispatch positions that became vacant after one dispatcher left and another retired. The dispatch center will use part-time dispatchers to help fill in its work schedule. Director Debbie Carter said she will eventually hire and train two additional part-time dispatchers.

In other business the dispatch board:

— approved moving forward with installing a communications tower in New Haven. Nelson Fiscal Court has pledged $15,000 to cover the costs of installing the 120-foot tower. The tower will improve radio communications in southern Nelson County for EMS, police and fire departments.

— opened bids from four companies for computer-assisted dispatch software.

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