Measure T..... for 9-1-1- Service
Santa Cruz City Special Mail-in Ballot Election
In an emergency, every single second counts.
When you place a call to a 9-1-1 emergency call center, you expect an operator to answer immediately and help to arrive within minutes. When someone's life or health is at stake, the first minutes are the ones that matter most. We all depend on 9-1-1 call centers for immediate response in the event of medical emergency, threat to public safety, fire or natural disaster.
Santa Cruz City Council has decided to hold a special mail-in election on August 26th to reinstate the revenue. If approved it would add $3.49 cents back into city residents monthly phone bills, including cell phones. It will be passed with a simple majority vote. Revenue from Measure T will go to the City's general fund, where it will cover the City's obligation for both 9-1-1 ongoing operational costs and federally mandated equipment upgrades in the near future (estimated at $20 million) that will improve both capacity and communication between the various emergency response. Ballot will arrive in the mail starting July 29th and unregistered voters who wish to weigh in on this measure have til August 11th to register to vote.
Measure T would restores funding for Santa Cruz 9-1-1 emergency response that was put in place in
2003, at the same rate that was established in 2003, at that point in time it only charged land line. The cell phones were added in January of this year and the rate was then reduced to $1.81. With uncertainly as to how the rest of the cities (Watsonville on ballot in November and Capitola no reaction to-date) and County will proceed they have asked for the $3.49 fee. Measure T approval would also protects against possible cuts in other critical City services for public safety and emergency response, including fire and police.
Q & A from the website for Measure T http://yes-on-t.com
What's the idea behind 9-1-1 phone fees?
In recent years, faced with severe budget constraints affecting all areas of public service, many California jurisdictions assessed phone-based fees to support their 9-1-1 services. The City of Santa Cruz and other local jurisdictions* have used such fees to fund the Santa Cruz Consolidated Emergency Dispatch Center (the 9-1-1 Center) since 2003. For the City of Santa Cruz, this fee generated approximately $1.3 million annually to cover its share of the 9-1-1 center budget.
*(The County of Santa Cruz and City of Watsonville, which have similar 9-1-1 fees, are in the process of assessing their response to the recent court ruling. Measure T affects the City of Santa Cruz only.)
Why do we have to vote on this issue now?
These fees were recently invalidated by a State appellate court ruling. To comply with this court ruling the City rescinded its monthly fee on phone services in May 2008.
The City is faced with ongoing revenue shortfalls and increased costs; it must address a multi-million dollar deficit for the coming year alone. Rescinding the 9-1-1 fee means the City is now also losing over $100,000 in revenue each month. When confronted with this additional loss, the City Council declared a financial emergency and took action to restore that revenue through a special election.
What would Measure T do?
Measure T would establish a $3.49 monthly assessment on phone services - the same rate established in 2003. Under Measure T this fee would be assessed on each land line and cell phone whose billing address is in the City. Lifeline customers and public institutions like schools would be exempted.
Comments(0)