By Melissa Domsic
mdomsic@record-eagle.com
May 10, 2008 04:00 am SUTTONS BAY -- Leelanau County is leading the charge in exploring a regional 911 center. County officials hope to get their neighbors, such as Grand Traverse and Benzie counties, on board to delve into the possibility of a shared dispatch facility. "We think it's the responsible thing to do to have discussions if we can get anybody else to come to the table and talk to us about collaborating or combining or doing whatever is necessary to cut some of our mutual 911 costs," said Leelanau County board Chairman Bob Hawley. Leelanau County spends $900,000 a year on its 911 center, and about 90 percent of that goes to payroll because it needs to be staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Hawley said. "It seems to me that if you were to have one 911 center servicing a much larger area, maybe you could get more efficiency with the same number of people," he said. Grand Traverse and Benzie counties officials were open to the idea. "The way things are going, it's a concept I think we have to start looking at in all aspects," said Benzie County board Chairman Mark Roper. Benzie's emergency dispatch budget is more than $540,000, and Grand Traverse spends about $1.4 million. "Anytime we can collaborate and do the same thing with multiple agencies, it's going to help as far as the cost per call," said Grand Traverse County board Chairman Addison Wheelock Jr. All three counties ran into problems with state legislation that controls surcharges on land lines and cell phones to fund 911 operations. Leelanau decided against using that mechanism, and the others expect they'll need to supplement the surcharge with general fund dollars. Leelanau funds its center with a property tax, but county officials are urging the state to allow a per-household fee, which they prefer as a more equitable option.
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