KingComm executives told the Kane County Judicial and Public Safety Committee on Aug. 14 that the agency plans to hire two to three telecommunicators in the coming weeks and that a proposed $1 increase in the statewide 9‑1‑1 surcharge is critical to avoid asking local subscribing agencies for more money.

The increase would be “$1 more for every phone bill,” KingComm’s presenter said, and “that’s incredibly important to us because as we talk about budget increases, our technology requirements as mandated by the state of Illinois … If we do not see that increase within the surcharge, we will end up going back to our subscribing agencies for that money.”

KingComm reported it dispatches for nine police and seven fire agencies and operates three shifts with minimum staffing of three telecommunicators per shift. Personnel make up about 81% of expenditures, the presenter said; vacancies have driven higher overtime costs this year. The agency said it had completed skills testing, interviews and background screening and expects candidates to move on to psychological and physical exams.

KingComm also described a new line item for Emergency Telephone System Board (ETSB) reimbursements to make transparent certain operational costs that the ETSB reimburses directly, such as administrative telephone lines, headsets and radio network connections. The presenter said she increased the ETSB line item this year based on recent reimbursement trends.

On staffing, the presenter said temporary telecommunicators started in June and July as fully trained staff. “You will start to see the result of those 2 vacancies being filled in our current budget moving forward,” she said, and added she hoped two to three hires this year and two more in early 2026 would reduce overtime. She also told the committee that contractual step increases ratified in 2023 include a 3% step increase for union employees this year.

Discussion included whether the temporary hires would reduce overtime; KingComm answered the hires will produce savings toward the end of the year as vacancies are filled. The committee did not take formal action on KingComm’s presentation during the meeting; the presentation was accepted for review.

KingComm’s presentation materials are filed with the committee packet.