Edenton: 911 fee 'double taxation'
(from: http://www.dailyadvance.com/news/edenton-911-fee-double-taxation-25119)
By Rebecca Bunch
Chowan Herald
Sunday, June 20, 2010
At its June 28 meeting, the Edenton Town Council is expected to hear a finance committee recommendation that the town not pay the county for its use of the 911 central communications.
The finance committee — Sambo Dixon, chair, Bob Quinn and Steve Biggs — developed the recommendation at a June 1 meeting after a request by Chowan County that the town contribute funds for the service.
Town Manager Anne-Marie Knighton, who also attended the finance committee meeting, said the committee was “unified in its belief that a contribution from the town would constitute double taxation.”
Town of Edenton residents, who pay town and county taxes, are already helping to fund 911 through their county tax payments, Knighton said.
There are no funds available in the town’s 2010-11 fiscal year budget that could be used for that purpose, the committee noted.
Last Monday, County Commission Chairman Eddy Goodwin said he did not think the double taxation argument applied.
Goodwin said that, under the law, each county is required to provide certain services to all of its residents, including law enforcement. He said that Chowan County fulfills that commitment to all its citizens, including town residents, through the sheriff’s office.
Goodwin said it was the town’s decision to create a police force, which he called “a luxury” that the county has no legal obligation to support.
Goodwin said that 27 percent of the calls that come into the 911 center are for the Edenton Police Department only. That does not include fire and rescue calls, he said.
“I will speak only for myself and not for the other commissioners,” Goodwin said. “But it is my personal opinion that the county does not have to support the Edenton Police Department. I as a county resident do not feel I should have to pay for the police department.”
But Goodwin said, by not paying its fair share, that is what the town is in effect asking the county to do. The county’s responsibility, Goodwin said, is to support the sheriff’s office.
Members of the town’s finance committee have said that they wanted to maintain a dialog with the commissioners so that each side could better understand the other’s position on 911 funding.
Goodwin said he was certainly in favor of open communication, as long as it resulted in a conversation that actually led somewhere. He also questioned whether conversations were going to be used as a substitute for actually dealing with the issue at hand.
But finance committee members said they were comfortable the town is already doing the right thing.
Biggs noted that prior to the opening of the new Public Safety Center, where 911 is housed, the town provided space for 911 at its municipal building as an in-kind contribution.
Biggs added that the town is paying now for the space at the new center, owned by the county, that the Edenton Police Department occupies.
Another consideration, Biggs said, is that every household and wireless customer in Chowan County that has a telephone is paying a surcharge for the 911 service, as do other North Carolina residents, including Edenton.
According to Lisa Jones, county finance officer, Chowan County will receive nearly $170,000 from those payments by the end of the program’s fiscal year. In 2007, those fees were capped at 70 cents per land line and wireless customer.
The state’s counties have largely used those monies to pay for technology upgrades, according to the North Carolina 911 Board, which distributes the fees and monitors their use.
Quinn said the town certainly understood the value of the 911 service. But, he said, asking town residents to pay twice for a service they were already supporting through payment of county property taxes seemed excessive.
The annual cost of operating the 911 service in the coming year is projected to be $563,280. That figure reflects an increase of more than $73,000 from last year.
Goodwin also pointed out Monday that in other area counties such as Perquimans, the towns of Hertford and Winfall pay for their share of calls responded to by 911, minus emergency medical calls.
“In some towns that does not occur,” Goodwin said. “But if you dig into their relationship (with county government) you’ll see there is some in-kind arrangement in place there.”
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