What started out as a miscommunication may end up as a compromise between Blaine County and the city of Hailey for payment of the municipality's share for a new, countywide dispatch service. Hailey officials are willing to contribute up to half the requested $250,000 the county is charging the city, in return for the county's willingness to ask voters for the rest through a countywide vote on the November ballot.
"Process-wise we don't want to find ourselves in this position again," said City Councilwoman Carol Brown at a City Council meeting Monday.
She was referring to an apparent communication gap during the last few years between a "users group" of emergency response personnel and Hailey's elected officials as the users group formed a funding plan for the E-911 dispatch service.
The service, which includes GPS mapping and enhanced location capabilities, went into effect in December and is housed at the new Blaine County jail in Hailey. All cities in the county, as well as the county emergency services, have been assessed fees by the county based on the users group estimation of emergency calls coming from each municipality annually. That plan could change if a compromise is reached between the county and Hailey over payment of the fees.
In 2006 there were 31,218 emergency 911 calls made in Blaine County. Based on dispatch salaries, the cost per call amounted to $29.60.
Due to its high population and increasing emergency needs, Hailey was assessed $250,000. The bill, which would contribute toward a countywide dispatch salary cost of about $1 million for 2009, came at a time when the city had already cut its operating budget by 10 percent, due to hard economic times.
Under the users group's proposed plan, Ketchum's dispatch bill would have been reduced over a four-year period, from over $600,000 to about $250,000, with Hailey making up much of the difference.
Yet Hailey officials said last month they were taken unawares by the $250,000 fee, which the county was requiring of them to remain within the enhanced emergency dispatch system. Bellevue Mayor John Anderson, who was at Monday's meeting at Hailey City Hall, said he was also surprised when his town received a bill for $67,000 for its share of the new service.
Bellevue agreed to pay $12,000, or about one-fifth of that amount. Hailey officials offered to pay at least the same percentage of their bill, and as much as $150,000, to stay in the E-911 system, as long as the county commission agrees to consider a county override ballot initiative to pay for the rest. The Hailey City Council will decide on the amount at its final budget meeting on Aug. 18.
County Commission Chairman Tom Bowman said Monday that he was, at times, also out of the loop with the users group as it formed the funding plan.
"This funding plan was made from the ground up, but the County Commission was not present at many of the users group meetings," he said.
Bowman and fellow commissioner Angenie McCleary agreed Monday to present a countywide tax override vote at their next County Commission meeting on Aug. 19.
"I am encouraged by the way everyone is talking and listening over this issue," McCleary said.
Several alternative scenarios for paying the $1 million dispatch salary expense for fiscal year 2009 have been proposed by county and city leaders in recent weeks to resolve the impasse, including different payments by municipalities for different levels of service. However, Bowman said such an "a la carte" menu for dispatching was untenable for dispatchers, who would have to act based on the origin of an incoming call.
"Splitting the baby this way is not the thing to do," Bowman said. "We are not going to walk away from Hailey in the case of a life-or-death situation, but (if there is a reduced level of service) we might forward 'barking dog' complaints to the mayor's office."
Sun Valley Mayor Wayne Willich attended Monday night's meeting, saying a countywide tax increase, based on property values was "the most onerous" solution from his perspective, because Sun Valley has few emergency calls and high property values.
"A person with a $2 million house pays 10 times the fee for ambulance services as a person with a $200,000 house," he said.
Hailey Police Chief Jeff Gunter suggested that Sun Valley's city payment of about $100,000 for dispatch could be eliminated and the money shifted to pay for the increased county dispatch rate after an override, if it passes.
If the Blaine County Commission agrees to put the E-911 override levy on the November ballot, it may have to vie with another tax increase initiative, for the acquisition of open space. The open space override levy proposal, if it gets on the ballot, and if it passes, will require a two-year increase in property tax by an average of $50, based on the county's median home value of $436,000.
The county raised $350,000 per year for the ambulance district in May, during a similar ballot initiative that increased property taxes by $3 per $100,000 of assessed value.
In other Hailey news:
· Hailey was named one of the 50 best small towns to live in and play in by National Geographic Adventure magazine.
· Hailey officials have issued 700 warnings to residents for watering lawns when they shouldn't. Odd/even-day watering schedules are based on odd/even street addresses. For more details go to Hailey City Hall Web site.
· The City Council voted to become a Tree City USA member, requiring Hailey to establish a tree committee, draft a tree ordinance, which includes planting and maintenance, spend at least $2 per capita on its program and promote Arbor Day.
