Questions and Answers
Is this a new tax?
Yes. A quarter-cent sales tax will avoid a 3.0 mil property tax increase.
How much would the tax generate?
Butler County expects to receive about $1.5 million annually in total sales tax revenues. In addition, $667,000 in federal grant funds have been awarded toward the overall cost of the project. The county will continue to actively seek other grant opportunities to defray the cost of the project.
Will the sales tax pay for all construction and operating costs?
No. The sales tax, combined with grant awards, will pay for the major system components (transmitters, towers, vehicle and hand held radios) as well as voice paging and some computer data components. Maintenance (following any warranty expirations) will be covered under shared user agreements.
Is there a sunset on the tax?
Yes. It is projected it will take 10 years to achieve enough revenue to pay for the project. Any excess revenue collected will be dedicated strictly to debt repayment for the project.
Would the sales tax have any effect on other county programs?
No. The quarter-cent sales tax would be used strictly for this public safety project.
When will the voting be held?
Voting will be conducted by mail-in ballot. Ballots will be delivered to voters on November 10, 2009.
Ballots will be accepted until Noon on November 24th, 2009
The last day to register to vote before this election is November 9, 2009.
Is this a "Cadillac" system?
The term "Cadillac" is really a poor analogy and is often misleading. What the question really means is "are items in the proposed project more costly than necessary"? The answer is an emphatic NO; our emergency services group actually recommended many components that were of lesser cost than those currently being used on the state system by other agencies. Our BCESA group identified several components that provided greater quality with more specific application to local needs. One such example was eliminating an extra cost of $1200 per portable radio for functions most users do not need and instead adding a water proof feature at a cost of $100 for a savings of $1,100. When you consider we will purchase up to 800 portable radios the result is a savings of $880,000. Having the end users involved in this process has allowed us to reduce our overall costs but keeping the quality we need.
Why do we have to do it all at once?
We have learned from past experience that the band aid approach only postpones the inevitable and drives up the cost significantly. Doing an entire system allows us to control our future communications needs by designing an infrastructure that IS expandable versus patching old technology that will require replacement in a short time. We estimate that the system infrastructure as designed will serve us faithfully for up to 25 years. When you take the new system costs and divide it over a 25 year period, that amount is less than our agencies spend each year in trying to maintain our old system.
What is the difference between what we have and what we're getting?
This can be quite technical but let’s try to put it in laymen’s terms. Our current system was established in the 1970’s and 80’s and consists of a number of "radio channels". Each channel is located on towers throughout the county and each one serves a specific agency. No one channel reaches the entire county and they allow only one person to talk at a time. The audio quality is poor with increasing interference and static; often times units operating on portable radios cannot communicate back to their dispatcher or with each other. The safety issue here is obvious; a responder calling for help may not be able to do so, officers chasing fleeing suspects may not be able to communicate with other units in the path of the chase, there are a whole host of issues with the current system.
The new system takes a different approach by combining "channels" (in our case 10 of them) into a digital "trunked" computerized system. Each 10 channel system is located on a series of 6 tower sites all linked by a microwave system to a central control center. What are called "talk groups" is programmed into mobile, portable and dispatch center radios, there can be up to several hundred talk groups in this system if need be. Many more persons can communicate at the same time regardless of where they are in our county, their signals will be clear and not have any interference or static. With the new system someone in Rose Hill can talk to someone in Cassoday on a hand held portable radio. Responders can communicate with each other and the dispatcher regardless of where they are in the county.
Why are we paying for Equipment for three dispatch centers?
The County proposes to provide the necessary communications components to replace what currently exists. In our case the cities of Andover and Augusta have had established communications centers for quite some time and the county has no authority to change this. They provide critical communications for their responders who also cover areas outside their community’s city limits via mutual aid agreements or as providers of service such as a rural fire district. The discussion of whether it is good or bad to have multiple communications centers is not appropriate for this issue. What is of the utmost importance is providing a seamless communications system that enables all responders to communicate regardless of where they are in the county.
If a city or entity chooses not to participate do they still have to pay either the sales tax or the property tax?
Yes, there is no mechanism to opt out of either taxing mechanism, if you are a property tax payer in Butler County you pay a small portion to the county regardless of where you live. Sales taxes are collected from retailers doing business in the county and those funds come from ANYONE purchasing goods or services regardless if they live in the county or not.
What if the entity chooses not to participate how they will communicate?
There are ways that those entities who operate radio systems can comply with the FCC mandate without joining the county system however they can be costly and will not help solve the overall issues of a seamless system. In fact by opting out they isolate themselves and do a disservice to their responders and those who may respond to assist them. In the long run the cost they incur may be greater and would be the responsibility of the entity and its citizens rather than persons paying sales tax or the county at large.
Why do we need to do this?
First and foremost is the FCC narrow banding mandate that is effective January 1, 2013. There are a number of other issues that our work group and consultants have identified since 2004 and some are actually more critical than narrow banding. The poor quality of our current systems and the inability to communicate county wide are but a few. We could spend millions of dollars to solve the narrow banding issue and still have the other critical problems. Common sense and lots of hard work on the part of our BCESA group resulted in identifying a project that would solve the biggest majority of the issues at one time in a cost effective manner. Doing ONE interoperable system versus repairing many smaller systems provides for consistency in equipment type and the ability to establish seamless operations for all entities serving the emergency service needs of Butler County citizens.
Can the County use the sales tax dollars for other projects or expenses?
NO, the sales tax is specific to the communications project and can only be used to retire the debt incurred for this project. The sales tax will sunset at 10 years or when the debt is paid, whichever occurs first. A sample copy of the proposed ballot is on the website at www.bucoks.com.
What does our department/ city/entity get?
Each emergency service agency will have the existing mobile and portable equipment replaced as well as some dispatching and fixed site items. The radio system manager has been working with each entity to identify the need for any additional items and to make sure spare items are available to assure there is no down time if a component fails.
Are you buying equipment for school districts and public works departments?
At this time no, the plan is for the county to provide an infrastructure that will accommodate mobile and portable equipment purchased by these entities. These entities that operate their own radio systems will also have to comply with narrow banding mandates. We feel that rather than replacing their entire systems at significant cost they can purchase the appropriate equipment and operate on the county system at a savings.
The FCC mandate does not say you have to convert to a digital system, why do it?
Portions of this have been answered previously however you are correct, digital is not mandated. The BCESA and our consultants have been made aware that future regulations already in process at the FCC will only be able to be accomplished by digital systems. While this may not occur for several years it would be a waste of precious taxpayers’ dollars to have to change a major portion of a new system in just a few years at a cost of millions more dollars. Another added benefit of a digital system is the lack of interference and clarity of signal, one of the problems that plague our current systems.
