911 board speaks to future funding, new expansion

The 911 Oversight Board gathered March 8 with the agenda items being future funding possibilities and the expansion of services to a neighboring county.

The board gathered in the Nodaway County Commissioners’ office with updates from the subcommittee that studied the potential funding of the county-wide service. Presently, Nodaway County and the City of Maryville are allocating close to $225,000 each for the operations of the Northwest Missouri Regional Communications Center. The Nodaway County Ambulance District is also adding dollars to the operations. The final piece of revenue is the shrinking telephone tax linked to landlines in the county. Last year’s budget, which was the first year of operation, saw expenses add up to over $741,000.

The subcommittee, appointed by the board at the last meeting, reported the most viable way of producing a steady revenue stream for the operations would be a county sales tax. They proposed a 3/8¢ tax that would generate nearly $1M. Another option was to have a cell phone tax of one dollar per phone which is the highest allowed by state law. That would not cover the expense required so the county, Maryville and other entities would have to subsidize the operation’s expense.

The board will receive more information from the City of Maryville to determine hard numbers of the operation’s cost of the center, including utilities, employee costs, ongoing software update costs, etc. at a future meeting. This will aid the board in estimating the necessary revenue to cover future costs.

Maryville Public Safety Director Ron Christian reported to the board that Worth County 911 contacted him about the possibility of the Northwest Missouri Regional Communications Center being able and willing to handle the county’s approximately 400 emergency 911 calls per year. With much study, the leaders of the center are recommending the City of Maryville enter a June 1, 2022, 31-month contract with the Worth County group for $4,500 a month to handle their dispatching services. The four entities include two fire districts, one sheriff and one deputy, and the rescue squad, which would be able to receive instructions for emergency calls from the center. There are few capability issues and learning the geography of the county would be the main obstacle for the center’s staff.

The board approved the contract proposal, which will be offered to the Maryville City Council for formal approval on March 14, with the clarification that the profit of the new venture will be added to the revenue of the county’s 911 efforts.

Some discussion was held about the potential interest from other counties in contracting with the Nodaway County 911 communications center, which will require further outreach and study.

The board will meet again in June.