Lake County 911 Authority approves small 2026 budget amendment to reflect tariff and search-charge changes

The Lake County 911 Authority on Jan. 9 approved an amendment to the 2026 budget that adds $5,489.64 to both revenue and expense lines to account for recently identified tariff and search-charge changes.

Jackie, who presented the line-count reconciliation, told the board that 44 providers were remitting the emergency telephone (search) charge and that the authority’s inventory showed about 84,000 reportable lines. "It looks like you may see a 2.4%–4% increase in line counts," Jackie said, and staff estimated that would translate to roughly a 2% increase in revenue once receipts are reconciled.

Staff explained the amendment is an accounting alignment: the $5,489.64 change corrects the projection for telephone charges and the corresponding expense so the authority’s approved figures match the county’s submission to DOLA. A board member moved to approve the amendment, another seconded, and the chair called for a voice vote; the transcript records approval by voice (no roll-call tally provided).

Board members emphasized this amendment does not change the intergovernmental agreement amounts agencies have already approved to pay into dispatch this year. Jackie said full cash receipts for calendar-year reconciliation will not be available until the end of March, after which staff will fold the line-count reconciliation into 2027 projections.

The authority also approved the December minutes and set its next meeting for Feb. 6.

What’s next: county finance will include the amended numbers in its DOLA submission and staff will reconcile actual receipts in March to finalize projections for the 2027 budget.