County commissioners from throughout the state were in Jefferson City last week for an annual meeting and to voice concerns over a lack of E-911 and prison funding.
The county commission and the Missouri Association of Counties both support a form of cell phone E-911 surcharge.
Currently, 911 systems throughout the state are funded by a tax which is only placed on landline phones.
Yet 70-80 percent of 911 calls come from cell phones, which are not taxed because, in Missouri, they are classified as radio devices.
Missouri is the only state without a 911 cell phone tax.
Last year Franklin County began upgrading its 911 services to offer state-of-the-art technology to residents and those passing through the county, Hillhouse said.
If a major consolidation like the one Crowell proposed were to take place, the county would have to eat its investment of over $1 million.
"The message (the state) is sending is don't step up and act in the best interest of the health, safety and welfare of the people," Hillhouse said.
"Someone is just going to come along with a better idea anyway and they'll say you rushed things. But I don't regret it one bit," he said.
"We waited and waited for someone to step up to the plate and eventually we did it ourselves," Hillhouse said.
"I'm not standing here saying that what they're saying is without merit, but we've done our job in recognizing there was an issue."
It wasn't the idea of consolidation but Crowell's wording which perturbed Hillhouse and associate commissioners Ann Schroeder and Terry Wilson most, he said.
"You're never, ever going to get the money until you consolidate," Crowell was quoted talking about 911 funding to Cape Girardeau County officials last week in the Southeast Missourian.
"I'll force you (to consolidate). I'll starve you down to it, if you're not going to do it of your own free will," he said.
The state Legislature, in less harsh terms, agreed.
State Sen. John Griesheimer, R-Washington, opened a Senate meeting last Thursday, Feb. 5, with remarks representing the Senate as a whole.
The Senate has stated that no legislation for 911 funding will be passed until there is a reduction in PSAPs.
State Rep. Mark Bruns, R-Jefferson City, said the House was in agreement with the Senate.
Crowell said at the Feb. 5 meeting that he would fight any bill in the Senate "until hell freezes over and then he will stomp on the ice," according to the meeting's minutes.
He also stated that all funding will stop until there is a reduction in PSAPs in the state.
Taxes Vary by County
"They're deflecting the issue. The Senate and the House have no money in this. It's not their concern," Schroeder said.
The taxes are collected by each county. In Franklin County, the rate is 10 percent. Neighboring St. Louis County's rate is 1 percent.
Some counties in the state charge as much as 15 percent.
State senators have assigned R.D. Porter, the state's 911 coordinator, to organize a plan to reduce the number of PSAPs.
Bob Dopp, Franklin County's emergency management director, will provide a report to Porter, he said.
While consolidation might be needed, the extent to which Crowell has proposed seemed extreme to many of the county's emergency management agency directors who met with the commission and Dopp Tuesday morning.
"Where are they coming from with their concern of the number of call centers?" asked Russell Rost, Union city administrator.
"They're just wanting to say they are against taxes," he said.
Question Crowell
Several of the officials questioned Crowell's motives.
"What sometimes happens is you get a new guy who thinks his idea is so new and great that he won't let it go. No one can convince him that the wheel has already been invented," Rost said.
"Someone should look at his campaign contributions," County Counselor Mark Vincent said.
According to campaign disclosure forms, filed with the state's ethics commission, Crowell received several thousand dollars from various cellular and telecommunications companies for his 2008 Senate bid.
The following is a list of sources of companies and political action committees in related fields who contributed to Crowell's campaign, the amount they donated and the date it was received:
CenturyTel Partners for Missouri; $550 and $650, Oct. 22, 2007, and Oct. 30, 2008, respectively;
JCS Tel-Link, $350, Nov. 7, 2007;
Comcast Cable Communications, $675, April 16, 2008;
Boycom Cablevision Inc., $1,000, Aug. 29, 2008;
NewWave Communications, $400, Aug. 18, 2008;
Missouri Cable PAC, $700, Sept. 18, 2008;
Rural Telecommunications Committee, $1,000; Sept. 29, 2008; and
AT&T Missouri Employees PAC, $750, Oct. 9, 2008.
A Potential Fix
Griesheimer has introduced Senate Bill 119 which would add a 25-cent per month fee to all Missouri cell phone customers, or $6 per year.
The money would be used for enhanced 911 services.
In years past, other proposed surcharges have been voted down including a 50-cent one, Dopp said.
"People don't seem to be asking why those bills failed. It was because of the things tacked onto them. One had a provision about concealed firearms which was poorly written," he said.
The bill would provide a limit to the PSAPs receiving funding, however.
First- and second- class counties could receive funding for two PSAPs. Third- and fourth- class counties, could only receive funding for one.
Charter counties could receive funding for three.
"I don't get the economic objections, it's as close to a true user fee as you can get," Rost said.
"The game plan from the state has totally changed. Did we miss something? Is Sen. Crowell right?" Hillhouse asked.
"Is that the way we need to operate? Because you can play that game until the cows come home," he said.
Hillhouse said that, in the spirit of consolidation, the number of state Senate seats could be reduced from 34 to 17 and the House could be reduced to around 50 and still provide efficient, effective government.
"That too would be to scale with the economy," he said.
"Let's say Sen. Crowell has his way and the state says Washington, shut it down, Pacific, shut it down, Sullivan, shut it down, the county, shut it down," Hillhouse said. "How many jobs will that cost our county, at a time when jobs are precious and our county's unemployment rate is above the rest of the state?
What he is proposing is unmentionable and he should be brought to task for it."
Dopp, who attended the Feb. 5 Senate meeting, said Crowell argued that if a fast-food restaurant can streamline its processes, the state's 911 systems should be able to as well.
Crowell said at the meeting he was prepared to introduce legislation turning dispatching over to the state's nine Highway Patrol Troop headquarters.
The patrol would be overwhelmed, Dopp said.
Sharing a Message
"St. Louis County has 23 PSAPs and 90 municipalities. With the money that St. Louis County has, they can tell the state to go pound sand," he said.
In comparison, northern and southern parts of the state have one call center for three to four counties, Dopp said.
"Like Commissioner Schroeder said, they don't have any money in it now, so asking us to consolidate would be an unfunded mandate," Washington Mayor Dick Stratman said.
"This is another case of death by 1,000 cuts," he said.
Schroeder said the commission would like the emergency management directors to implore their respective municipalities to support Griesheimer's bill.
Meanwhile on the state level, "the Missouri Association of Counties has taken this on. Now we need to get the sheriff's association and all the associations that the various fire and ambulance districts belong to to help make our case known en mass," Schroeder said.
Ken Hahn, Washington police chief, agreed.
"Since this is statewide, we need to go through our state organizations and have a plan for this," he said.
"It sounds like the effort is finally gaining steam and this is an effort to throw a wrench into that," Hahn said.
