City wants to increase phone charges for 911

Published 12:00 am Monday, January 6, 2003

[1/5/03]City of Vicksburg officials plan to ask state lawmakers to allow an increase of the amount telephone customers pay to fund local enhanced 911 operations.

The request is one of many local governments, law enforcement and business groups will seek when lawmakers begin the 2003 session at the Capitol Tuesday.

Per-line rates of $1 a month for residences, $2 a month for businesses and $1 a month for cell phones help fund the countywide emergency dispatch center, but fall short of covering the center’s $840,107 budget. The city and county have supplemented that funding since the joint operation was created 13 years ago.

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“There’s not enough money to pay for everything we’re doing in enhanced 911,” said Mayor Laurence Leyens. “This will end the long argument about what the city’s and county’s share should be.”

Leyens and county supervisors butted heads almost as soon as he took office two years ago over how the two governments should split the additional costs. Supervisors said the city should fund the majority of the additional funds needed because most of the 911 calls come from inside the city while Leyens argued that because the service is the same outside the city limits, funding should come from a countywide source.

“The surcharge could fund all of 911 and it would be fair,” Leyens said.

The two boards fund the shortfall through an interlocal agreement that must be renegotiated every year.

The last increase to the surcharge was in 2001 when residential fees increased by 20 cents and business, 34 cents per line. The Legislature sets the maximum for the surcharge, but it requires approval by the Warren County Board of Supervisors before residents would be charged.

Leyens did not say how much of an increase the city will ask lawmakers to approve.

Rep. Chester Masterson, R-Vicksburg, said the surcharge for 911 is already enough and local officials should look at ways to reduce the costs for the dispatch center.

“We haven’t got any request to that effect yet, but I’d have to question it,” Masterson said.

Money will top the list of concerns for lawmakers who for the third consecutive year will face a tight budget.

“My top three concerns are the budget, the budget and the budget,” said Rep. George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg.

Flaggs, senior member of Warren County’s delegation, has served 15 years in the House and is a member of the Appropriations Committee. He said the purse strings will be short again this year, leaving lawmakers with more requests for funding than money.

“My biggest concern is going to be the budget; trying to balance the budget and not have to make any more cuts,” Flaggs said.

Warren County supervisors say they are also concerned about the state’s financial standing.

“Locally what we have to do is watch the economy, watch our own back yard, and be prepared for whatever may happen to the state’s financial position,” said District 5 Supervisor Richard George, board president. “If the state has problems meeting an obligation, generally it’ll get passed to the county. One better keep that in mind before we embark in any spending unit.”

George said with Sen. Trent Lott losing the majority vote, war looming and the overall economy, the state’s financial situation doesn’t look too good.

“We enjoyed favor in Washington with Lott, I’m not sure what the Lott situation will bring,” he said.

Jimmy Heidel, chairman of the Warren County Economic Development Foundation, said that despite the shortfalls in the state’s budget, he is hoping for more funding for local work-force training. He cited the growing need in Warren County for trained labor to fill spots at Nissan suppliers such as Yorozu and Calsonic, both at Ceres Industrial Interplex at Flowers.

“Right now we’ve got 1,500 jobs sitting here. There’s some work-force training going on, but we need more and more,” Heidel said.

Sen. Mike Chaney, R-Vicksburg, served two terms in the House and has served three years in the Senate. He said he would like to see more money for education.

“My major concern is that we continue to fund education,” Chaney said. “Without educated people, we can’t bring in the jobs to create the tax bases that supports the government.”