911 office ‘hurting’ from loss of revenue

According to the Sequoyah County 911 office, the revenue from the landline tariff which supports the county’s 911 service has decreased significantly because of decrease in landline use.

Sheila Comer, assistant director of Sequoyah County 911, informed Sequoyah County Commissioners Monday that by the end of the year, the 911 office will have lost over $10,000 in revenue which averages out to loss revenue of over $3,000 a year.

Comer voiced her concerns after Sequoyah County Commissioners approved to reaffirm the landline tariff rate for Sequoyah County at their regular meeting Monday. The tariff rate, which is a law set by the state of Oklahoma, allows 911 offices to access five to 15% of the total cost of basic landline service in Sequoyah County. The total is based on the percentage added to the phone lines. In Sequoyah County, the 15% tariff rate amounts to about $2 to $3 for residential landlines and about $4 to $5 for businesses, according to Comer.

“ This does not include add on service such as long distance, call forwarding, call waiting or caller ID. It just applies to basic service which is approximately $40 to $50 per line,” Comer said.

Comer said 15% is the most funds which can be used for the operations of any 911 service in the state.

She also said on each calendar year, the state requires county commissioners to reaffirm the landline tariff rate.

“It hurts,” David Slaughter, Sequoyah County 911 director said. “I see nothing in the future to help out the 911 offices and the problem is not only in Sequoyah County, it’s a state-wide problem.

“More people are dropping their landlines and relying on their cell phones for their main source of communication,” Slaughter said.

“In 2019, the cell phone tariff rate was raised from 50 cents to 75 cents and you would think it amounts to a lot but it does not. The cost of operating a 911 office is increasing while our revenue is decreasing. “We can’t expect the few people who rely on landlines such as the elderly or people who are poor and cannot afford a cell phone to pay more for their phone service to keep the 911 offices open,” Slaughter said.

“We’re just going to have to tighten our belts. Although the costs continue to go up to pay for technology advances, employees and related expenses to keep our office operating, we’ll just have to do what we can to cut costs.”

Slaughter said the last time the office received a check, there were 675 landline customers which includes all of Sequoyah County.