Wells Wants To Clarify 911 Issue

By MARK EVANS

STE. GENEVIEVE HERALD

Alan Wells, director of the combined St. Francois-Ste. Genevieve County 911 center in Desloge, wanted to make sure readers were not confused about 911 funding issues.

In 2011, the two counties went together to form a combined 911 center with state of the art equipment. Since, Sate. Genevieve County has paid an annual fee for the service.

Meanwhile, the old Ste. Genevieve 911 center on Brooks Drive has bee maintained as a backup.

Today, two different financial pinches are affecting 911 operations.

The 911 services had been largely funded by a fee on land line users. That revenue has dwindled to barely over $100,000 – a fraction of what it started out being. In recent years, St. Francois County adopted a 3/8 of one cent sales tax to support 911.

For Ste. Genevieve County, revenue for maintaining 911 has fallen far below sustainable levels.

Add to that the second problem. What once is state of the art technology rapidly becomes outdated. This has happened across the board, both at the two 911 locations and with law enforcement, fire and ambulance districts.

Most vitally, communications equipment has continued evolving, leaving these entities lagging behind. Each entity needs to make costly upgrades in radio and other communications.