As a new legislative year gets underway, the county-advocacy group, the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP) was in Harrisburg pushing their priorities.
Leaders in Butler County told CCAP that they view the 911 surcharge has been a crucial issue.
Butler County ranks last in 911 funding per capita, and although the surcharge has been increased to $1.95 per month, it’s still not near the $2.30 CCAP is asking for.
Thus, leaving the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency to supplement costs in Butler County, but County Commissioner Kevin Boozel says that’s still not enough.
“We are still supplementing a good bit of money for our 911 system. I when I say supplementing, we’re talking to the tune of $1 million per year,” Boozel said. “And that comes directly from property tax.”
There has been some movement on changing the equation that decides how much money each county gets, but Boozel says that some counties don’t want to change because they may lose funding.
“There will be winners and losers in this process. That was the fear that people would lose dollars that they were accustomed to having to run their 911 center,” Boozel said. “That was the issue, so the formula was not addressed.”
Boozel said he was told the issue will be addressed again in two years and he hopes political leaders aren’t leading him on.
Representative Marci Mustello was the only representative to vote for the increase in Butler County.
