County, City respond to dispatch concerns

A big topic of concern in Perry County over the past several weeks has been the 911 dispatch. In response to the concerns, the Perry County Commission and City of Perryville released joint statement about a possible move of the dispatch to the St. Francois County Joint Communications Center.
The letter stated that recent inflation has led the group to consider all options.
“The City’s budget for dispatch salaries and benefits alone totals more than $625,000 per year. The County salaries, at their current scales (which are below market), add another $471,000 per year,” the letter states. “Equipment and operating expenses for each department can be estimated at $50,000/year and the required communication infrastructure through AT&T adds an additional $120,000/year. In short, the locally operated dispatch option would cost our community an estimated $1.2+ million per year, every year. This is true despite the fact that the current 911 Dispatch tax for Perry County only generates an estimated $125,000/year and has been trending downward for many years as more and more of us cancel landline phone service in favor of cell phones. While a local merger of the City and County as originally planned could save some money, a total merger with St. Francois will save much more. In fact, we estimate it will save the community more than $700,000/year going forward. NOTE: it is important to understand that over 90% of our 911 calls actually originate from a cell phone but only traditional land line services are actually taxed for 911 purposes; cell phones are not taxed for 911.”
The move would also allow the dispatch to be moved to a more advanced system.
“St. Francois County currently operates a state-of-art, regional dispatch center, serving over 40 entities in four neighboring counties,” the letter stated. “The communities they service include places we know well like Ste. Genevieve and Farmington, Iron County and St. Francois County. This combined purchasing power allows St. Francois County to provide better technology to the counties they serve at a lower cost. This includes technology we do not currently have here in Perry County, things like text-to-911 and geolocation on all phone calls (both traditional land lines and cell phone calls). This means that the dispatcher will know where the caller is at, even when the caller does not. It also provides them with an opportunity to maximize staffing efficiencies and schedules (they will have as many as 9 dispatchers working most shifts). The proposed cost for contractual services with St. Francois County is estimated at $545,500/year and would cover both the City and County services. These savings far exceed anything previously thought possible. It moves us forward technologically, provides advanced services for our citizens and does so at a lower cost. “

Members of the community and police officers were concerned about the move when it came to a more local touch and relationships between the first responders and dispatch. So much so that members of the community spoke on the subject at the last City Council meeting Oct. 17.
“I have a second generation child who decided to come to work for Perryville because she believed in the police department and the police family as I did,” Perryville Police Cpl. Jeri Cain said. The people here have supported me every day on the job. You’ve had a lot of people come up here and talk about safety and there are multiple things I could say. I would like the people here to think about the people who call 911 and can only describe the things around them and are confused. The people outside of this community may not know what the levy road is, or where five mile drive is, but our dispatchers do. Someone two or three counties away is not going to now that.”
It was noted in the letter that a meeting was held between dispatchers and members of law enforcement from both departments a compromise of sorts was made.
“At this meeting representatives of law enforcement requested the opportunity to explore a ballot issue allowing the voters of Perry County and Perryville to ultimately decide this matter by a new sales tax initiative for public safety and dispatch services, ultimately replacing the existing landline telephone fee for 911 dispatch. This tax is presently being considered for placement before the voters at next April’s Election.”

For the full letter go to https://republicmonitor.com/stories/full-perry-county-commission-city-joint-letter-on-911-dispatch,67001 on the Republic-Monitor website