KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — Kalamazoo voters may be asked next spring to hike the surcharge on phone numbers from 42-cents to $2.30 per month to fund Consolidated Dispatch in Kalamazoo County.
The referendum on the question would be placed on next May’s ballot. That’s the unanimous recommendation from the Intergovernmental dispatch group that has been working on Consolidation of the County’s five separate police dispatch centers, for the last few years.
Kalamazoo township and municipal governements have been trying on and off for decades to do what most other counties have already done, and that’s handle all their police, fire and EMS dispatching from one central location.
Several commissioners voiced reluctance to impose what amounts to a large tax increase on smart phones but Dispatch Director Jeff Troyer says this is the way most counties go.
So what happens to the money local governments now spend for their 9-11 dispatch operations? Local governments are expected to have answers to that question before the question goes to voters next may.
The County Board will decide whether to put it on the May ballot at their next meeting.
