LEE COUNTY – COVID may have screwed Lee County again.
LeeComm director Tony Keefe met with supervisors Tuesday afternoon to go over a proposal from Motorola to upgrade the county’s dispatch system, including first responder radios. But Keefe said the downtown time caused by COVID may have produced the system Motorola is moving to in lieu of its current communication system the county is using.
“When COVID hit, Motorola sent workers home where they did R&D and they created this new system,” he said.
“It’s more efficient because it’s not as much electricity; footprints are smaller; it's cheaper to cool because a lot is cloud based. This new system is a byproduct of engineers sitting at home finding something new.”
The new system will cost the county $5 million and the county still owes $2 million on bonds passed in 2023 to upgrade the system with Motorola back then. And not all county officials and supervisors are on board with the added expense. Keefe said he isn’t advocating for or against the upgrade, but said staying ahead is probably cheaper for the county in the long run.
“I would use the analogy of Windows. No one operates Windows 7 or Windows Enterprise, This is the nature of the beast. Internet Explorer isn’t viable now,” Keefe said.
“It’s a big expense since we’re only eight years into the current radio product. We didn’t know at the time the program we bought would be ending in 2031. I don’t think Motorola was anticipating it would end in 2031.”
The new program would cost the county just under $5 million again. Keefe said that would likely have to come from another essential services levy because PSAP doesn’t have reserve funds sufficient for the upgrade, and E911 service board has been deficit spending since the state took part of their 911 surcharge revenue to offset a negative operating balance at the state level.
“As of right now the 911 Service board is deficit spending because of no increase to 911 surcharge, which hasn’t been done since the early 90s and that’s their only revenue stream,” Keefe said.
He said the PSAP board does have bonding authority under 28E agreement the agencies signed, but in order to make the payment they would have to utilize the EMA levy which would cause an increase in that levy.
“Either you raising the levy on the county board side through general fund or supplemental or debt service, or your raising the EMA levy. You raise taxes and pay for it or you don’t upgrade,” he said.
He said without additional revenue generation the 911 Service board will be operating with 0 reserves in eight more years.
“Our current revenues are $308,000 and this year were spending $413,000. We’re spending $105,000 over budget, dipping into operating reserves and they have just over one million. If nothing changes - like prices don’t go up - we will operate with 0 dollars in eight or nine years.”
But Lee County Sheriff Elliott Vandenberg said the current system is working and will be viable until end of service in 2031. Supervisor Chair Ginger Knisley said she’s not convinced it’s makes good financial sense for the county to absorb more debt for upgrades at this point.
“We’re speculating a little bit. We have expected viability for five more years of our current system. I think it’s a little early to invest $5 million in system upgrades when we still have five years to go on the current system,” she said.
“The most recent purchase was a bit uninformed. What we purchased for $5 million several years ago was already half way through its life.”
Knisley would like to see E911 or PSAP contribute to the upgrade and those agencies haven’t brought forward that option.
“They have money in reserves and should be contributing. I’m not interested in raising taxes to buy $5 million in new equipment when technology could change again in five years,’ she said.
If the county does re-up with Motorola now, they will get about $900,000 in company incentives, in addition to 20-25 additional new radios for first responders. Originally the incentives included 50 new radios.
Supervisor Garry Seyb said it’s worth looking into upgrading now and taking advantage of the incentives being offered and then have a system that in theory would last 20-25 years. But he said there is validity to riding the current system another five years and not incurring debt. However, that option would likely involve higher prices for the upgrade at that point, and the loss of any of the incentives offered by Motorola.
He said he’d like to see all options considered by the board before a decision is made. The board will see two new supervisors, Chris Brown and Chris Greenwald joining in January, but Seyb said he’s not sure how long Motorola will offer the incentives.
Keefe said the county hasn’t done well in planning for these types of upgrades and long-term expenditures.
“There’s no way to raise revenues without raising taxes,” he said.
“I’ll be the second person to say I don’t want to raise taxes any more than the next guy. But what kind of a price tag are we putting on first responders who’s radio isn’t work on a roadside or in a basement. It’s not a scare tactic, but if we end up behind, I don’t know if waiting was worth the risk.”
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