Starke County 9-1-1 Fund Losing Money

The Starke County Council members heard from Starke County Sheriff’s Matron, Chris Smith, at their meeting this week.  In her report, Smith said the 9-1-1 fund should be solvent for the remainder of the year.  She quoted a figure of $57,826 in the fund.

The bad news is that long term, the fund may go into the “red”.  One problem is that the 9-1-1 fund is financed primarily by land line telephone customers.  With so many people switching to cell phone service and abandoning land line service in their home, the same fee is not being received.  As a matter of fact, no one seems to know how much the cell phone companies should be paying.

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Remember When to Call 9-1-1

Robin Banks

This week is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. Emergency services dispatchers are the first to hear of your emergency and they are responsible for getting police, fire, and EMS out to help you in your time of need.

Robin Banks has been a dispatcher at the Starke County Sheriff’s Department for 19 years. She says it’s important to be sure to answer all questions so they can give emergency personnel the information they need.

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