David Taylor, Muldrow city manager, told county commissioners at their meeting Monday that residents in the 427 telephone exchange are confused by the proposal.
“It doesn’t pertain to us even though they (voters in 427 exchange) get to vote.”
Taylor said he feared the confusion might cause residents in the Muldrow and Roland areas to vote against the proposal.
“It can hurt you a lot more than it may help you is what I mean,” Taylor told the commissioners. “When I explained it to people they understood, but they wanted to know why they even have to vote on it.”
The county is covered by two 9-1-1 systems. The 427 telephone-exchange system was set up separately from the county system by town officials, and is operated out of the Muldrow Police Department.
Sequoyah County 9-1-1 is operated out of the county courthouse in Sallisaw. It also serves those in the Moffett and Dora areas on the east end of the county.
The Sequoyah County 9-1-1 proposal, which serves all telephone exchanges except that 427 exchange, if approved, will allow the 9-1-1 service to use the 15 percent telephone tariff charges for operation and maintenance as well as for equipment.
Charles “Chuck” Wyckoff, member of the Sequoyah County 9-1-1 board, asked that the proposal be voted on in the June 9 special election. He explained that the surcharge was originally set up to pay for equipment, but now the equipment fund has sufficient funds but the system does not have enough money to pay the salaries of call takers.
In an earlier meeting, Wyckoff said, “This is not a tax.”
It is simply a change in the way the telephone tariff is distributed, Wyckoff said.
But in order to change how the tariff is distributed, all residents in the county must vote on the proposal.
“Our equipment is in good shape,” Wyckoff said, “but we can’t take money out of the equipment fund to pay the salaries. Because the system was approved by the voters, the only way to change was to go back to a vote of the people.”
The June 9 election also includes a proposal for one-third of a half-cent sales tax for jail operations and a second proposal for a sales tax of the same amount for the sheriff’s office. County commissioners said Monday the jail only has enough money to operate for about one more month. Sheriff Ron Lockhart said he is asking for the sales tax funding so he can expand sheriff’s services in the county.
