KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — The Kalamazoo Consolidated Dispatch Authority has picked an alternative funding mechanism for bringing all of the five separate 911 dispatch centers in the County under one roof.
This plan won’t require a public vote, and it won’t immediately raise your taxes.
Dispatch Executive Director Jeff Troyer says they have come up with a blended formula that uses the population of each jurisdiction and money they have budgeted for existing dispatch operations to come up with the $4.3-million in annual operating funds they will need.
Voters rejected an increase in phone surcharges this spring to provide the funding.
Local officials have been working on consolidating dispatch for decades, and the need was hammered home when assessments after the big pile up on I-94, the mass shooting incident and the bike tragedy all pointed at communications as a problem.
