Officials from the Wyoming Public Safety Communications Commission, Wyoming Department of Transportation, county dispatch centers and telecom providers told the interim committee the state’s 9‑1‑1 funding ceiling (currently $0.75 per phone line) is inadequate to maintain existing public-safety answering points (PSAPs) and to finance a statewide migration to NextGen 9‑1‑1.

Monty McClain, chairman of the Wyoming Public Safety Communications Commission and Park County PSAP manager, described technical and operational gaps between legacy 9‑1‑1 and the capabilities required by NextGen 9‑1‑1. He said many PSAPs already have equipment upgrades under way but cannot complete statewide integration without a network backbone and additional recurring funding.

Why it matters: Wyoming has 31 PSAPs serving a sparsely populated, geographically large state. Coordinators estimated a multi‑million‑dollar gap between current surcharge revenue and the funding needed to sustain operations and create a resilient, redundant statewide NextGen network. Committee members asked staff to convene a working group of providers, PSAP operators and state agencies and to return with funding options.

Key details

- Funding shortfall: The committee was shown 2015–2024 revenue and expenditure trends; presenters said that, with the existing $0.75 ceiling, PSAPs remain underfunded. One example: a small county PSAP with four dispatchers reported $665,868 annual operating cost in 2024 and roughly $122,000 in 9‑1‑1 surcharge revenue.

- Ceiling and potential changes: Presenters suggested the surcharge ceiling needs flexibility and noted $0.75 was set in 1986. Staff modeling showed raising only the surcharge ceiling would not automatically make every PSAP whole; nets and caps and local governing-body choices matter. Presenters proposed a collaborative review of combined funding options (prepaid, postpaid, state appropriations, consolidation opportunities) rather than a single blunt increase.

- NextGen requirements and timeline: Officials said a statewide migration (ESInet backbone, call‑handling and logging systems, GIS upgrades) would likely take 9–18 months to implement after funding and procurement decisions; some PSAPs already have partial upgrades but lack the statewide network backbone and redundancy.

- Administrative and technical points: The packet included an inventory of 9‑1‑1 equipment categories (call handling, CAD, recording, GIS), and it explained the value of leveraging existing state wireline/fiber assets (wire link) and state-owned shelters for microwave redundancy.

Stakeholder positions

- Wyoming Public Safety Communications Commission (Monty McClain): Asked the committee to sponsor and support a structured interim process to identify a durable funding model and to preserve local control where appropriate.

- Wyoming Department of Transportation (Amy Benning and Nate Smolinski): Recommended a coordinated plan to build an ESInet backbone and stressed federal-grant eligibility requires consistent reporting.

- PSAP operators (Matt Johnson, Torrington Police; other county chiefs): Described dispatch staffing, capital and maintenance costs and urged a funding solution that avoids ad hoc local shortfalls.

- Telecom providers (Range, Charter, Verizon) and other carriers: Agreed to participate in a working group and stressed the need to consider pricing and customer impacts; industry representatives noted IP‑based services are already in scope under telecom statutes and that funding through an assessment on phone bills should be re-evaluated for transparency and fairness.

Committee direction and next steps

- Committee members asked staff to convene an industry‑agency working group to flesh out funding options and to provide an updated implementation and cost estimate at the committee’s next meeting.

- Presenters recommended exploring a mix of targeted surcharge adjustments, state seed appropriations to build backbone infrastructure, and incentives for regional consolidation where local conditions and public‑safety needs make it sensible.

Ending

Officials said NextGen 9‑1‑1 is achievable but requires a near‑term coordinated funding decision to prevent further operational shortfalls and ensure statewide redundancy. The committee agreed to take the topic forward in the interim and requested concrete funding options and timelines at the next meeting.

Speakers quoted in this article were: Monty McClain (Wyoming Public Safety Communications Commission), Amy Benning (Wyoming Department of Transportation), Nate Smolinski (State 9‑1‑1 Coordinator), Matt Johnson (Chief, Torrington Police), Jody Levin (Charter/Verizon/industry representative).