How much do you pay for 911? Did you know your payment is about to triple?
The county commissioners voted last Monday to triple the telephone bill charge for 911. Fortunately for the people, they didn't do it right and they'll have to do it over this Monday - unless enough people object.
We all want 911; it is a vital public service. This isn't about the need for 911; it is about how to best pay for it. At present the 911 system is running about $2,500 in the red every month and that must be fixed. But Cleon Harrell's proposal would take more than $16,000 per month from you and me to cover the $2,500 shortfall. That is absurd. Mr. Harrell and Mr. Tabor voted yes, Mr. Carter abstained because he didn't have enough information. He understands the problem: lack of information.
I have spent the past two days trying to find out why the phone company is not charging me enough. SBC database shows exactly what percentage goes for federal and state and local taxes. But I'm told the SBC database is blank where the 911 percentage should be! And there are more than 20 other phone companies involved. Yet nobody locally understands how the 911 income is computed. That is no way to run a vital public service.
I'm asking two things. First, I'm calling on the commissioners to defer any changes in the fee structure until they understand how much more money - if any - is really needed. Second, I'm asking everyone to show up at the commissioners meeting at the courthouse Monday at 10 a.m. Let them know how you feel about tripling your cost.
Don't be misled by the newspaper accounts of 50 cents or a dollar. The fee is presently 5 percent of your basic monthly charge and the commissioners want to raise it to 15 percent. For my small business, that will be an increase from $2.97 to $8.91 every month. But first we need to find out why SBC is only charging me $2.32 rather than the $2.97 that 911 should get.
Perhaps if all the phone companies collect the correct amount there will be no need for an increase at all. We need to know.
Darryl Phillips
Rt. 2, Sallisaw
