Most Recent City Ballot Issue

9-1-1 Sales Tax Proposal - April 3, 2007

Key Points

• Voters from Greene County will face a 1/8-cent 9-1-1 sales tax proposal on the April 3, 2007 ballot.
• If approved by voters, the sales tax would replace a 9-1-1 surcharge currently charged to all “land line” telephone customers in the County, including Springfield and other cities. The surcharge costs phone customers about $1.40 a month.
• State law does not allow the same surcharge to be charged to wireless phone customers, who now make more than half the calls placed with the Springfield-Greene County 9-1-1 center. Nor does the surcharge apply to new communications technology, like voice-over Internet protocol. Right now, the surcharge is the only source of funding dedicated to staffing and operating Springfield-Greene County 9-1-1. Only Springfield and Greene County land-line customers directly pay for 9-1-1 service. Last year, wireless phone customers made more than 110,000 calls to 9-1-1 (53 percent of all 9-1-1 calls) while paying nothing to support local 9-1-1 service.
• Some local wireless providers do show a 9-1-1 tax on bills. This money typically pays for equipment these companies are required by law to have in place, to help route emergency calls to the nearest 9-1-1 center. None of this money goes to local 9-1-1 call centers.
• As more and more customers drop their traditional “land line”, revenue from the surcharge is shrinking, and it’s no longer keeping up with the cost of operating the 9-1-1 center. In fact, in 2006, that revenue came to about $2.2 million — the same level it was in 1997. As that revenue shrinks, Springfield, Greene County and Republic must make up the difference out of their general revenue funds. That shortfall totaled $1.5 million in 2006, and it costs more every year.
• At the same time, calls to 9-1-1 are increasing — due to both population growth and the immediate availability of cell phones. For example, a car crash that would have generated two or three 9-1-1 calls 10 years ago now generates 50 or more calls, and every one of them must be answered and processed. During the ice storm last month, 9-1-1 answered 23,000 calls within just 10 days — nearly four times the average call load for a 10-day period.
• If approved by voters, the 1/8-cent sales tax would generate about $6 million a year — approximately $2.3 million more than the center operates on now. That new money would allow the 9-1-1 center to hire 20 to 24 new employees — the first staffing increase since 1994. It also would fund equipment for the center.
• For shoppers in Greene County, an 1/8-cent sales tax increase would add 12.5 cents to every $100 purchase. Land line customers would have to spend $1,120 every month at retail stores to pay more in sales tax than they’re paying now on the surcharge. Much of this sales tax would be paid by customers who live outside of Springfield and Greene County.
• With rapidly increasing call loads due to cell phones, 9-1-1 funding is a problem emerging nation-wide. Thirty Missouri counties already fund 9-1-1 from a sales tax, and the concept is under consideration in Christian County.