tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21829866.post1819991686687156531..comments2023-08-20T07:06:14.115-04:00Comments on Thurber's Thoughts: Will township residents be double-taxed for 911 dispatching?Maggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12677808307727487766noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21829866.post-19567000536558177132010-01-06T10:02:52.743-05:002010-01-06T10:02:52.743-05:00CORRECTION:
I wrote "DeeDee - yes, the dec...CORRECTION: <br /><br />I wrote <i>"DeeDee - yes, the decentralization was supposed to increase response times,"</i><br /><br />and I should have written <b> decrease response times</b>Maggiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12677808307727487766noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21829866.post-72314486398131291552010-01-05T19:43:18.378-05:002010-01-05T19:43:18.378-05:00Snake oil. Look at this quote carefully: System o...Snake oil. Look at this quote carefully: <i>System officials <b>hope</b> to shave the response time by <b>up to</b> 45 seconds.</i><br /><br />No promise of a faster response time was made, which is not surprising. No study was ever completed to prove just how decentralizing the 911 call center would magically provide a faster response time for police, fire and ambulance. Maybe because it won't?<br /><br />What might make a difference are more and better trained operators.<br /><br />Dee is quite right about Sylvania Township residents getting hosed over by double taxation. This is something that should have been spotted and corrected years ago. Let's see how the newly elected Township trustees deal with it.Mad Jackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06190137186843630543noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21829866.post-63938646769262829282010-01-05T16:35:28.045-05:002010-01-05T16:35:28.045-05:00DeeDee - yes, the decentralization was supposed to...DeeDee - yes, the decentralization was supposed to increase response times, but all the discussion I found on the matter dealt only with the villages and cities - not the townships.<br /><br />As for the $21,000 subsidy, I could not find if that was continued, though it was promised 'annually.'<br /><br />Here is the information on The Blade article that references the subsidy:<br /><br /><i>911 COOPERATION SET <br />Blade, The (Toledo, OH) - Thursday, May 22, 1997<br /><br />...<br />Each PSAP community will hire its own 911 operators, but Lucas County will own and maintain the 911 equipment. Each community is to receive about $21,000 annually to help pay for operator salaries, ...<br /></i>Maggiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12677808307727487766noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21829866.post-72634649087183667982010-01-05T16:24:47.021-05:002010-01-05T16:24:47.021-05:00Maybe I'm not understanding the history, but I...Maybe I'm not understanding the history, but I thought the whole point was to decentralize so that they can reduce response time. Was the original intent to decentralize but still work under one PSAP? <br /><br />Anyway, I do not remember seeing a line-item in Sylvania Township's budget for this reimbursement of dispatchers. It may have been buried in an 'intergovernmental transfers' line, but I don't think so. I know the money we get for the life squad is explicitly marked, so I would assume the same would be true for dispatchers, if we were getting the money. <br /><br />Interesting, life squad operators haven't seen an increase in receipts in 4-5 years even though the cost of running the life squads has gone up and protocols have increased personnel demands, now we find out that the county isn't providing the money we're perhaps were promised years ago for dispatchers. Why am I not surprised.DeeDee Liedelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04567259716599270756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21829866.post-4827226711950026802010-01-05T14:33:05.637-05:002010-01-05T14:33:05.637-05:00DeeDee - when some of the jurisdictions went to th...DeeDee - when some of the jurisdictions went to their own PSAPs, (the decentralization of the call centers) they assumed some of the dispatching costs. If you'll note, though, the county was subsidizing those wages at the cost of $20,000 per employee. <br /><br />You'd know better than I if they are still subsidizing that amount from the levy proceeds.<br /><br />My understanding is that the jurisdictions with their own PSAP made a decision to forego certain things from the county in exchange for control over that aspect of the system.<br /><br />But the fact that some of those costs were originally funded with levy dollars and now might not be would mean that yes, taxpayers are being 'double-billed.'<br /><br />Of course, today the county can show that the levy isn't covering all the costs it originally was promised for - and why more money is needed.<br /><br />But then, government always wants more money.Maggiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12677808307727487766noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21829866.post-27721873995431955212010-01-05T13:15:21.331-05:002010-01-05T13:15:21.331-05:00I'm hard pressed to say that the County is in ...I'm hard pressed to say that the County is in the wrong here in requesting townships to pay for dispatch services. Residents of Sylvaina Township pay the 9-1-1 levy, and yet our separate Police and Fire levies pay for dispatch services in Sylvania Township. <br /><br />I'm not sure the illustration from the 1997 Blade article still holds true - that a call goes in to 911, and then is transferred electronically to the appropriate dispatch system. It is my understanding that if an area has a PSAP system (which Sylvania Township does), the 9-1-1 call goes directly to that PSAPs dispatchers. <br /><br />As another illustration, the City of Sylvania has their own PSAP system; if someone in the city dials 9-1-1 for a fire, then Sylvania City's dispatchers 'transfers the call by computer' to Sylvania Township dispatch, which dispatches the fire department. Sylvania City dispatchers stay on the line with the 9-1-1 caller. The call is not routed to the downtown 911 center, nor do the county dispatchers have any thing to do with the call, unless may be for calls for mutual aid or life squad or basic transport. <br /><br />So, since Springfield Township does not have their own PSAP dispatching system, they have to have someone dispatch their calls, and that is the county. Springfield could, I believe, have a PSAP system, and pay the related costs of local equipment and personnel, but they choose not to (though they are doing something with having fire dispatched out of the downtown 911 center, and supposedly trying to work towards a central fire dispatch system). <br /><br />Where a 9-1-1 call is routed depends on whose PSAP is designated for a particular area; I'm not sure if that area is defined geographically, based on phone numbers, or what. And designated PSAPs can change; remember to when Waterville changed from Maumee to the county? It was a computer 'switch' to change where the 9-1-1 calls from Waterville were answered. <br /><br />If you are correct, and the County's request to be paid for dispatching is 'double-taxation', than Sylvania Township and any other jurisdiction that has a PSAP system has been double taxed for years.DeeDee Liedelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04567259716599270756noreply@blogger.com