911 fee likely to move from landlines phones to resident’s garbage bills
Judge-Executive Dean Watts speaks to the audience during Tuesday’s Nelson Fiscal Court meeting.
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Tuesday, May 3, 2016, 11 a.m,. — Nelson Fiscal Court discussed a proposal today to shift the 911 fees currently collected on landline phone bills to county residents’ garbage bills.
The move is an effort to stabilize funding for the E-911 dispatch service, which currently dispatches all emergency services in the county.
MAGISTRATE JEFF LEAR
The fee is currently set by the county at $1.71 per month. Under the proposal introduced by Judge-Executive Dean Watts, the 911 fee will increase 29 cents to an even $2 per month.
Magistrate Jeff Lear said he supported moving the fee away from landline phone bills, but he questioned the need to raise the fee in the process. He suggested leaving the fee the same if the court approves changes in how the fee is collected.
The number of landline telephones have declined as more people rely on cell phones. The decline in the number of landline users has adversely affected the funding that is available for E-911 locally.
Cell phones also pay a 911 fee; however only about half of the cell phone funds are actually returned to the county. The cell phone 911 fees are collected by the state and divided among the qualifying 911 centers. The cell phone fees also fund grants that are made available to dispatch centers across the state.
Under the 911 collection proposal, the City of Bardstown’s proposed contribution for 2016-17 would be approximately $154,000, or about the same as the cost to outsource city police and fire dispatching to the Kentucky State Police, Watts said.
Brad Spalding shows the magistrates a plat in regard to a construction easement request by Thai Summit.
“Local dispatchers provide many more services that the Kentucky State Police dispatchers cannot,” Watts said. “If the city council is going to go that way (KSP), I hope they look at the total package, and are we comparing apples to apples?”
BULKY ITEM PICKUP. Bulky item pickup is complete, and according to landfill manager Brad Spalding, it took a about 10 days longer than the scheduled six weeks to get it done.
There was heavy usage of the service this year, Spalding said, with 1,005 tons collected. The cost to the county was $149,746. The tire amnesty program collected more than 23,000 tires, he said.
In other business, the court —
— approved first reading of its 2016-17 budget.
— approved a taser grant resolution for the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office to replace the aging units with new ones.
— approved a paving request for Pete Hahn Road north of Bloomfield off Eggen Road.
— approved a construction easement requested by Thai Summit.
— set a public hearing in regard to a proposed increase of the fire dues for the Nelson County Fire Department. The hearing is set for 9 a.m Tuesday, May 17 at the next Fiscal Court meeting at the Old Courthouse.
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