Missouri lawmakers ponder how to pay for wireless 911

Missouri lawmakers ponder how to pay for wireless 911
Published: 2/23/2009 | Updated: 2/23/2009 By ANN PIERCEALL Herald-Whig Staff Writer Wireless 911 service, something many take for granted, is a luxury most Missourians don't enjoy. About 75 percent of the state, including a portion of Northeast Missouri, does not have the technology to pinpoint a wireless 911 call. Missouri is the only state without a funding mechanism to provide for wireless 911 emergency service statewide. A 2006 study determined it would take about $40 million, or a 75-cent monthly fee on phone bills, to upgrade the state's wireless 911 emergency service. State Sen. John Griesheimer, R-Washington, is proposing in Senate Bill 119 a monthly fee of at least 25 cents on cell phones to go to fund wireless 911 emergency service statewide. Griesheimer said state Rep. Mark Bruns, R-Jefferson City, plans to offer a companion bill in the House. Both want voter approval of any fee. But Republican Sen. Jason Crowell of Cape Girardeau has promised to halt any 911 funding legislation that does include plans to consolidate the state's 911 answering points. There now are 167 primary 911 "answering points" for Missouri's 114 counties. An answering point is where an initial 911 call goes before it is forwarded to emergency responders. "You're never, ever going to get the money until you consolidate," Crowell told Cape Girardeau County officials at a recent meeting. He prefers five call centers -- one each in four quadrants and one in the center of the state. Most 911 answering point directors and emergency officials do not oppose consolidation, but they say five calls centers to handle the entire state is not feasible. Lewis County 911 Director Gretchen Keith said a consolidation of two or three counties is doable. She described a scenario in which a 911 call from Shelby County is answered in Jefferson City. "But the consolidation Sen. Crowell was talking I don't see that as feasible," Keith said. "You run into issues where somebody (answering the 911 call) seven counties away from where you're making the call is not going be as familiar with what local people call landmarks as someone who is maybe two counties away." Marion County 911 Director Mike Hall sees calls from more rural areas competing with calls from urban areas for priority in sending emergency responders if the number of answering points is reduced. "I don't think there's a 911 director that doesn't agree there are areas where consolidation makes good sense," Hall said. "(But) I truly believe if any Missourian dies or is injured because emergency services can't find them in time ... Sen. Crowell and any legislator that opposes this should be held accountable." Four Northeast Missouri counties have no 911 service -- Knox, Scotland, Schuyler and Clark. Lewis, Shelby, Monroe and Ralls counties have some capacity to locate wireless 911 callers. Marion County can receive wireless 911 calls, but cannot locate a caller. Statewide 911 coordinator R.D. Porter said most Missouri residents don't realize they don't have wireless 911 emergency service statewide. He said many rural communities can't afford to fund a 911 answering point center, and many of those that provide the service can't afford expensive upgrades. Many local funding sources are based on dwindling fees from landline phone services. Residents "need to know their 911 centers are going broke, and they're going to have to do something different or their service is not going to be available," Porter said. He has been asked by Griesheimer to help "come up with a number" for possible consolidation of the state's answering point centers before the General Assembly's spring break in mid-March.