Editorial: Share costs of maintaining E-911 communication system

The committee that oversees the county-wide E-911 system has decided to let the state’s attorney general have the last word with regard to the propriety of spending emergency funds.

Representatives from the entities involved should be able to sit down and work out the conflict themselves.

At issue is whether E-911 funds, which are collected from a $1.25 per month tax on telephone land lines throughout the county, should be used to pay for maintenance on a radio system that’s used by the city of Dothan and as a secondary system for other entities, such as Houston County Emergency Management Agency, Dothan City Schools, Dothan Airport Police, other police departments in the county, the Sheriff’s Office, Houston County Volunteer Fire Department and the Houston County volunteer rescue squads.

Radios are also held by users such as the Eagle’s newsroom. The AG will also be asked to determine whether the purchase of radios for non-emergency users is legal.

Those are valid questions. Paying for maintenance from the E-911 fund would mean an increase in the monthly fee for telephone customers throughout the county, although the system would be used by others.

It should be clear that the money collected to support the E-911 system was intended to be used to provide emergency communications throughout the county. The E-911 committee should not be expected to foot the bill for maintenance of a municipal service no more than the municipality should pay for maintenance of emergency communication equipment when funds are already collected for that purpose.

Sharing the maintenance cost, just as the radio equipment is shared, seems to be the most logical solution.