It is counterintuitive that as Oneida County, New Hartford and Utica finally
make serious plans to consolidate local 911 call centers, the county is looking
to add a 30-cent monthly cell phone surcharge to help pay for the
project.
Leaders need to revisit their cost assumptions and find a way to
get this done without digging deeper into residents’ pockets.
The
surcharge conjures up memories of the Beatles’ George Harrison singing “Tax Man”
about government’s penchant for taxing anything it can (“If you try to sit, I’ll
tax your seat.”).
Government has added so many taxes and fees and
surcharges to our daily lives that it’s nearly impossible to keep track of them
all. That’s especially true when it comes to cell phone bills, which are nearly
impenetrable when it comes to reading and understanding them. Consider
this:
* Already, cell-phone users pay a $1.20 monthly surcharge to New
York state that’s supposed to support enhanced 911 service.
* If you own
a land line, you are already paying a 35-cent monthly surcharge for support of
911 in Oneida County.
* So if the new surcharge goes through, and if you
own a land line and a cell phone, you would be paying $1.85 per month to support
911 service in one form or another. That’s $22.20 per year, and it’s in addition
to the portion of your property taxes or sales tax payments that winds up
supporting 911 and related services.
No one denies the importance of 911.
But the surcharge situation is getting out of hand.
Oneida County rightly
points out that shutting down 911 call centers in New Hartford and Utica and
adding all those calls to the county’s existing center will create a higher
workload. There must be other options to cover those costs besides a new
surcharge.
Things to consider:
Efficiency. There is no question
that having one call center, instead of three, should be more efficient.
Planners need to study just how to ensure that happens. In our high-tech age,
how can computers and better communications tools make a 911 call center
function better, and perhaps with less staff?
Other cuts. Oneida County
government, nor any other local government for that matter, has yet to look as
seriously as it could at cost reductions. A review of the county payroll shows
many, many people are earning $60,000 or more. Do we need all of those
higher-paid individuals across county government? Savings elsewhere could help
offset new spending on the county’s 911 call center.
Arrangements with
Utica, New Hartford. The added calls the county would handle will be from the
county’s largest city and its retail hub. As Utica and New Hartford give up
their own 911 call centers, their costs should go down. It would make sense,
then, that the city and town help the county cover some of its costs, at least
in the short term. Better yet, perhaps consolidation between the county, city
and town occur in other areas could help reduce overall governmental costs,
making the 911 shift less of a burden for the county.
There are likely
other good ideas out there to be discovered. County Executive Anthony Picente,
working with Mayor David Roefaro and Town Supervisor Patrick Tyksinski, needs to
find them, no matter how many cell phone calls it takes.
