Next week, local voters will decide if a permanent boost to county property tax levy rates is a good way to raise funds to pay for dispatcher salaries at Blaine County's new consolidated dispatch center in Hailey.
Called Proposition 2, or the "Dispatch Center Override," the ballot initiative would raise an additional $835,000 per year to fund operational expenses of the consolidated 911 dispatch communications center, which is managed by the Blaine County Commission. Passage of the permanent override would require a two-thirds majority.
For homeowners, the levy override would mean an extra $6.71 per $100,000 of assessed value on their annual property taxes. Based on the county's median home value of $436,000, that would add an extra $29.25 in property taxes per year.
Though many county voters may not know it, the $1 per month per phone line they voted to charge themselves in 2002 to enhance the county's emergency 911 system cannot be used to fund dispatcher salaries. According to county officials, those funds can only be used for maintenance and other costs at the consolidated dispatch center not associated with dispatcher salaries.
The 2002 vote ultimately led to the consolidation of all emergency dispatch services in the county into one service in Hailey in December 2007. That in turn led to a disagreement earlier this year between the county and local cities over who should fund the dispatcher salaries.
Finally, in July, county officials agreed to a request from Hailey leaders to have county voters consider the levy override in November. If approved, the measure would not begin paying for dispatcher salaries until 2010. Until that time, the county and local cities will have to fund the salaries out of their own budgets.
Under a proposed dispatch funding strategy developed earlier this summer by county officials, 12 dispatchers will be hired to staff the center during fiscal 2009, which began Oct. 1. County officials had hoped to hire 13 dispatchers to staff the center, but can't because Hailey and Bellevue have only given about a quarter of the funding levels requested of them.
Having 12 dispatchers will allow for a third dispatcher to be on shift during what's been called the "power shift" on Fridays and Saturdays when the highest call volume typically takes place, Blaine County Administrator Mike McNees has said.
Should the levy rate increase fail at the ballots, the disagreement between the county and south Wood River Valley cities will almost certainly proceed to mediation.
A similar dispatch funding disagreement landed the cities of Kimberly and Buhl in mediation with Twin Falls County after they refused to provide their own funds to help pay for dispatcher salaries. In the end, Kimberly and Buhl agreed to help fund the dispatcher salaries.
