Marion County Commissioner Ken Stiverson appeared Tuesday evening at the Marion City Council’s Finance Committee meeting to present a plan to share revenues from a proposed sales tax increase. While City officials expressed appreciation to Stiverson for developing and presenting the plan, several said it may have come too late for them to hold off on their plans to request an income tax increase.
Stiverson told committee members that he was speaking on behalf of all the County Commissioners. His plan calls for asking Marion County voters to approve a five-year, half percent sales tax increase. That increase would bring in estimated yearly revenues of $3.2 million. The County Commissioners say, if Council agreed, they would provide the City of Marion with $700,000 per year. In addition, the County would pay for a proposed combined, countywide dispatch center. That move would save the City of Marion over $700,000 per year.
The rest of the revenue from the sales tax increase would be earmarked with $600,000 to the Sheriff’s Office, $500,000 to the Multi-County Correctional Center, $700,000 to run the combined dispatch and emergency operations center, and $300,000 for capital improvements. The remaining funds would go to various county departments.
“We could all work to get this passed because it would benefit us all,” explained Stiverson.
Stiverson said that his plan helps everyone because the City would save by no longer running their dispatch center, everyone would pay the sales tax – including those shopping in Marion from out of town – and it would reopen all the wings of the multi-county correctional center.
The County needs the revenue increase, said Stiverson, because they are looking at 10 percent cuts in 2013 due to a million dollar shortfall. He said the County’s General Fund budget has decreased from $18 million to less than $14 million over the past few years.
911 and Combined Dispatch Center
Even though the City and County are looking to replace some of their lost revenues, much of the meeting’s discussion revolved around a proposed countywide dispatch center.
Marion resident Mike Murphy questioned why the wireless carriers are already not sending 911 calls to their correct location, a key benefit of a combined dispatch center. Currently, all cellular 911 calls are routed to the Sheriff’s Office which must transfer calls coming from within the City of Marion. Murphy said other communities already have worked with wireless providers to re-program their cell towers so that calls coming from a tower pointed to the City go to the police and calls coming from a tower pointing away go to the County.
Murphy also stated that the reports of 911 calls received by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office are inflated. As an example, he said that when an accident occurs, 10 people may call 911 which the sheriff office logs as 10 individual calls/reports. When the issue is transferred to the City dispatch, it is logged as just one call.
Murphy alleged that the sheriff has not used the 911 funds, which come from a tax on cell phones, correctly because he used it for salaries. He said the County’s 911 enhancement should be in phase two, but is only in phase one. The funds are stopping this year.
Josh Daniels, a member of the Finance Committee, said he is not against a combined dispatch out of hand, but said it should be able to be more efficient. He questioned why every plan calls for more money to run a combined dispatch than it currently takes to run two centers.
Marion Police Department Major Randy Caryer, who was standing in for the police chief, said the department is very concerned that the County is only providing a five-year funding plan. He said that if local revenues have not improved significantly, then there will be no funding for dispatch. He also questioned the idea that the County wants to borrow a half million dollars from the State of Ohio to build a new dispatch center when the City has a center that can work tomorrow. He said the City of Marion has presented a plan that would cost $140,000 less than what taxpayers are paying right now.
The police department, said Caryer, proposed a five-member board to run a combined dispatch.
Caryer also explained that the idea of re-programming the cell towers, suggested by Murphy, was presented to the county’s 911 Commission, but even though the Mayor moved to approve the change, it died for the lack of a second. He said it is not a perfect solution, but it would solve the majority of the issues.
Dale Osborn, another member of the Finance Committee, said he is determined that local governments provide the best quality service they can and to do it with less funding if possible. He said that residents only care that when they call 911 it is answered quickly and efficiently. He said that while he ultimately doesn’t care who runs the combined dispatch, he feels it should be housed at City Hall because of the assets already in place.
Marion business owner Ilan Kibbey, said he agrees that, as a resident, he really doesn’t care who runs the dispatch center. He asked about hearing that the City 911 equipment is old and in need of upgrades.
Kibbey also questioned why the City and County can’t seem to just cooperate. “If you consolidate it and run it more efficiently, that’s what matters. If you have the county and city fighting, neither increase stands a chance of passing,” stated Kibbey.
Mayor Schertzer said the remaining 911 funds could be used to upgrade the equipment in the City dispatch center. He also explained that while he knows it looks like the City and County are not working together, they are talking a lot. He said they don’t always agree and they shouldn’t. Schertzer pointed to a recent announcement that the City and County just worked together to acquire a grant of nearly $500,000 to be used for abandoned home demolitions.
Mayor Schertzer also said officials from the police department, sheriff’s office, and City and County government met together in April where a revenue sharing plan similar to what Stiverson is now proposing was discussed. He said that they have waited and waited for a response to this proposal and now, at this point, it may be too late for the City to wait any longer. Mayor Schertzer adamantly thanked Stiverson several times for bringing his plan to Council, but said he “doesn’t know if it is now too late.”
Concerns Over Emergency Operations Center
Pam Hall, Marion Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, assured Council member that she can provide documentation showing there will be a savings from merging the dispatch centers. She also said that no jobs would be lost with the merger.
Hall said the benefits of the merged dispatch center plan are not all about 911. She said the new center would include space for an Emergency Operations Center (EOC). She said that during the recent storm the EOC was not opened. When she asked why not, she was told because there were no phones. Hall said she does not care where the center is located, but said the issue is where an EOC would be housed. She said any plan must include this center.
Hall also said that she understands that the City’s computer system crashed during the storm and she heard from someone who said waited for 7 minutes for someone to answer a 911 call.
Hall defended the Marion County Sheriff, saying he got permission from the County 911 Commission and the State of Ohio before spending the money the way he did. She also defended the possible $500,000 loan from the State, saying it would go towards paying for computer upgrades over the next 10 years. That loan has not been accepted at this point.
Hall told the Finance Committee that the EnVISIONing Marion County committee that has been work on combined dispatch plan has decided to give up on working on a resolution. “We have made no progress.”
Daniels told Hall that even though he is generally anti-tax, he believes the City of Marion’s proposal is one issue that has merit and that he thinks voters will approve the income tax increase.
Hall explained that while she isn’t taking sides on the tax proposals, the City income tax is expensive on a per capita basis. She also expressed concerns that those who work within the City, but live outside, do not have a voice in this issue.
Fire Chief Ralph Zwolle explained that the EOC was not opened not because of phones, but simply because he didn’t request it to be opened. He said there is a time and place for the EOC and neither he nor anyone else felt that it was needed. He also explained that the Marion County Emergency Management Agency Director has a mobile system that allows him to set up an EOC anywhere in the County when and where it is needed.
Murphy, who spoke earlier in the evening, said he is not concerned about the 911 aspect of the combined dispatch, saying that right now his 911 call gets answered. He said his biggest concern is over the amount of officers available to respond to his emergency. He said if the money had been spent correctly the 911 system would be at phase two. With that phase complete, Murphy said when a 911 call is received by the Sheriff’s Office, a computer would instantly show the caller’s location on a map. He said then, not only would there be no need to ask if they were in the City, if the person was unable to communicate, emergency personnel would still know exactly where they were.
Mixing Countywide Dispatch with Revenue Needs
One thing that Hall pointed at several times was the impression that a combined dispatch center is tied together with any tax increases. She said this was a mistake early one to present them together and now the issue continues to be muddied. She said it all came from an attempt to kill two birds with one stone.
Mayor Schertzer agreed with that, saying dispatch and revenue increases should not be tied together. He said at this point he is only concerned about getting police and fire personnel back on the street. “That’s my number one priority.”
Stiverson said he has a hard time not looking at the big picture and would struggle to separate the dispatch from the sales tax increase. He said that he would be willing to work with Council on adjusting the plan and separating the combined dispatch issue.
Commissioners, Council to Continue Meeting
Ralph Cumston, Finance Committee chair, requested the Commissioners continue meeting with the Finance Committee every two weeks to work out the issues. He said this would allow them to talk all the issues out in public. If they come to an agreement, Cumston said Council can always remove their income tax proposal from the ballot, but for now they must move forward to meet deadlines and to have a fall back plan.
Daniels said he would not support another attempt at increasing the sales tax for the County. He said if voters say no to the City’s proposed income tax increase, he will not try to wear down the voter by continuing to ask again and again.
It was agreed that the Finance Committee would meet again on August 6 to continue discussing the County sales tax plan and issues surrounding a combined dispatch center. The full City Council is expected to hold a final reading and approve placing an income tax increase of 0.25 percent on the November ballot for voters to decide.
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