Madison County officials weigh switching 9-1-1 fee from landlines to water meters for unincorporated areas

Madison County Judge/Executive Taylor and county staff on Aug. 21 held a special called work session to review proposals to change how the county collects its 9-1-1 surcharge for the unincorporated areas, considering a shift from the current landline fee to a water-meter-based charge.

The court examined spreadsheet models showing three residential fee scenarios (roughly $3.00 to $4.50 per month) and various commercial rates; county staff reported a utility dataset of 18,705 active meters in the unincorporated area'17,831 residential and 874 commercial. Jill, a county staff member presenting the spreadsheet data, told the court, "we have a total of 18,705 meters, 17,831 of those are residential, and 874 of those are commercial." Judge Taylor cautioned that the proposed change is a potential methodology and that affected decisions would require interlocal agreement with the cities.

Why it matters: County officials said the current landline surcharge is becoming obsolete as more service moves off traditional landlines and that a meter-based approach could spread the charge more evenly across users. Judge Taylor emphasized legal limits on the fee'"it is in law that you can only use this money for 9-1-1"'and staff reiterated that any revenue collected must go to the 9-1-1 fund and lifecycle replacements for the communications center.

Key details from the discussion included: - Collection models and revenue: Staff displayed projected revenue under multiple…