THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 2008

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9-1-1 Surcharge Hike 'Critical', Says Fire Chief

Wheeling Fire Chief Keith MacIsaac hopes residents will support an increase to the 9-1-1 emergency telephone surcharge fee.

An increase from 75 cents per line per month to $1.45 will be a referendum question on the November ballot, he said.

"The land-based fee is established and has to be approved by the local voters," MacIsaac explained. Cellular telephone users pay a separate fee established by the state.

The village has kept the fee constant since its implementation in the early 1990s. "The cost of doing business has dramatically gone up since the early 90s," MacIsaac said. In addition, the number of landlines has decreased slightly over the years as more people switch to cellular telephones. "The revenue stream has decreased," he said.

MacIsaac explained all revenue generated by the surcharge must be spent only for the dispatching of emergency services. The village uses its own equipment for dispatching police officers, and pays for part of the RED Center dispatching service they use for fire and medical emergency calls. "We've been able to replace our equipment several times over in the past 18 years," he said. "We've been able to do that with the revenue we're getting," he added.

However, "Like any electrical equipment, it has a life, it doesn't last," he said. To perform the next expected upgrade of hardware and software, the village will need additional money. MacIsaac explained if the village doesn't obtain money for the upgrades through the user fee, it would need to look at cutting somewhere else to take it from the property tax budget.

"It will be on the November ballot," MacIsaac said. "I'm hoping everybody will support it. It's something most people would regard as critical."