Lake County getting ready for E-911 funding
By Carrie Napoleon Post-Tribune correspondent September 12, 2012 3:38PM
Updated: October 15, 2012 9:29AM
CROWN POINT — If an interlocal agreement for the consolidated E-911 is reached this budget season, the county plans to be ready to start collecting the tax dollars.
As part of the budget process the Lake County Council on Tuesday removed the $10.6 million budget request for the consolidation from the new combined consolidated E-911 user fee fund and left it in the general fund, where it was placed last week, according to Dante Rondelli, the council’s financial adviser.
Removing the amount from the budget of the new combined consolidated E-911 user-fee fund eliminated a duplication in the 2013 budget. Rondelli said the amount was advertised in the budgets for both funds, but ultimately can only be in one fund when the final budget request is made.
Since it is unlikely an unexpected $10.6 million in user fees will turn up, it makes more sense to place the amount in the general fund budget which is where it will likely be funded.
By placing the $10.6 million needed for the E-911 consolidation in the general fund if an interlocal agreement is reached this budget season, the county can appeal to the state to have the portion of the participating taxing bodies’ levies designated for E-911 use transferred to the county levy, he said.
The likelihood of that happening is not strong, and that means the county will have another year to consider funding options.
“We can’t do anything unless the interlocal is signed,” Rondelli said.
Rondelli called the placement on the 2013 a dry run, because eventually the county will have to take action concerning how E-911 funding is handled. Without the interlocal agreement authorizing the county to tap each body’s E-911 levy amount, it may be left holding the bag for the cost of the state-mandated consolidation.
