Atlanta taxpayers, get ready to fork out more money for 911 services.
The city plans to address a $6 million budget shortfall in the operations of 911 by raising the public safety assessment that is attached to solid waste bills from $26 to $34 for residential dwellings and from $307 to $397 for commercial buildings.
The move is expected to help the city update the 911 system, including new software that helps the system recognize those who text 911 instead of dialing it, update equipment and lessen the chance of being put on hold when trying to report an emergency.
“It’s not a moneymaker for the city,” Beard said of Emergency 911. “Actually in previous years it’s been a loss for the city. But it’s a critical service.”
The majority of funds used to operate the city’s 911 system — about $11 million — come from fees attached to phone bills, said Atlanta CFO Jim Beard. The assessment is an additional revenue source that the legislature greenlit for Atlanta in 2015.
The 911 assessment increase is one of several sources of revenue in Atlanta’s $637 million fiscal 2018 budget, compared to last year’s $607 million budget. Property tax collections are expected to increase almost 3 percent in fiscal 2018 to about $200 million compared to $194.7 million the year before. Sales taxes also are expected to jump 1.1 percent to about $105.39 million, compared to $103.5 million the year before.
Under that budget, the city's costs will rise $6.5 million for salaries and overtime, $3.9 million for pensions, $1.6 million for worker's compensation and $3.9 million for group insurance. The city police and fire departments will see their budgets raised by 7.09 percent and 5.13 percent respectively.
During the recent finance committee meeting, Atlanta City Councilwoman Felicia Moore said she was concerned that the assessment was being rushed through the council without a public hearing. Past attempts to increase fees without allowing the public to weigh in led to outrage.
“We had an incident where we raised fees and did not inform or engage the public and they went ballistic,” she said.
The city said it would hold a public hearing June 14. The assessment, which first went into effect in 2015, was being fast-tracked so it could be included with solid waste bills.
Winslow, who backed the assessment increase, said during the committee meeting that it was imperative to update the city’s 911 center. Several people have been put on hold when calling 911, which is not the kind of response citizens expect when dialing an emergency number.
“I know when I called there about a year ago I know I was put on hold,” she said.
Beard said the facility is on its last leg and that ignoring the problem could be the difference between life and death.
“It needs several million dollars worth of investment or fixes,” Beard said. “Basically we’re talking about next generation 911.”
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