911 call for help: Funding mechanism hasn't kept up with new technology

By Joel Evans

For many years your local 911 communications center in Scott County has been there when a call for help was made. Our team has strived to bring the very best services possible in providing that vital link between you and the response of our emergency services. We have been there through tragedy, storms, turmoil and controversy, always standing ready.

Our 911 operation continues to provide you with the best service in a cost-efficient manner. Currently, our funding is derived from a fee on your traditional telephone service. In the past, this was sufficient to continue maintaining a level of service that you had come to expect. Through the years we have stayed abreast of constantly changing regulations, improved our operations and strengthened staff to provide services.

As with all businesses -- yes, 911 is a business -- we must be mindful of our revenue and expenditures in order to continue to provide services. The decline in the traditional telephone services has had a dramatic reduction in our revenue. We have adjusted our operations to ensure we keep our revenue and expenditures in balance. However, there are other forces at work beyond our control that are tipping that balance upside down.

The explosion of nontraditional telephone services -- such as cell phones, voice over the Internet and others -- has put additional burdens on our staff and surpassed our current technology. The rapid migration to nontraditional telephone services has also increased our expenditures. Yet because of current Missouri statutes there is no funding mechanism to pay for the additional services required.

With perpetual technology changes in our society, our cost to keep pace continues to increase. With the absence of change in statutes, our revenue continues to decline. If the current paradigm continues, we will have no choice but to reduce services or close the operations altogether.

911 needs your help. The communications center currently receiving emergency funding from county revenue, but that cannot continue. The center is taking funds from other areas not responsible for this dilemma. We need you to contact your state representative and state senator and encourage them to support a statewide funding source for 911 that includes nontraditional telephone services.

Ask your representative and senator to keep in mind that this is not a local issue. Nontraditional telephone services are not connected to your home, they are mobile and provide services anywhere in the state. Wherever you travel, you expect and should receive the same access to 911 that you have with your traditional telephone.

Please help us to help you. If you would like to see our operations and learn more about this issue, please call me at 573-545-3549. Thank you for your continued support.

Joel Evans is the Scott County Emergency Management Director, Benton, Mo.