KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM/FM) — After decades of debate, Kalamazoo County voters will be asked to approve a higher surcharge on phone bills to fund 911 consolidation in Kalamazoo County on Tuesday.
Authority Director Jeff Troyer says consolidation made sense 30 years ago when it was first pitched as a way to reduce costs. He says it makes even more sense now that, no matter which jurisdiction you are in, your phone call is bounced off the nearest cell phone tower.
He said that’s particularly true if you are driving when you call, because, in the space of just a few minutes, you can change jurisdictions several times and be bounced to different dispatchers. That would all go away under the new model.
He said most other counties in the state already have a surcharge funding their 911 systems. The Michigan Legislature has determined it’s the fairest way to fund the service.
Troyer also said, with the FCC requiring that 911 call centers upgrade from analog to digital, it would be less expensive to only make one conversion.
The consolidation vote has gained the most attention, but voters in Kalamazoo County will also be asked, once again, to renew a school millage request that provides money for operations in all of the school districts in the county. It is the same question that voters have already approved four times.
The millage was originally proposed as a way to offset cuts in state funding, a situation that educators will tell you hasn’t markedly improved in the period since its original passage. School officials say failure to pass it would adversely affect students.
Polls open at 7 a.m. Tuesday and close at 8 p.m.
