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LaSalle County board postpones action after hours-long debate over Mendota dispatch offer and 9-1-1 funds
Summary
After hours of testimony and questions about whether county-held 9-1-1 surcharge funds should be used to offset operating costs, the LaSalle County board voted to postpone indefinitely a resolution tied to a proposed reallocation of surcharge fees and an offer for the county to provide dispatch services to Mendota.
The LaSalle County Board voted on July 23 to postpone indefinitely consideration of a resolution tied to a proposed reallocation of Joint Emergency Telephone System Board (JETSB) surcharge funds and a county offer to provide dispatch services for the City of Mendota.
The decision followed a multi-hour public safety committee-style exchange in which Mendota Police Chief Jason Martin urged the county to accept Mendota as a dispatch customer, saying it would save Mendota taxpayers more than $100,000 annually when the city’s monthly dispatch fees and local telecommunicator staffing costs are combined. "Based on the financial information available to us and the capabilities of the sheriff's office, we believe transitioning dispatch services is in the best interest of the citizens of Mendota," Chief Jason Martin said during public comment.
County and regional dispatch representatives pushed back. John Duncan, speaking on behalf of Illinois Valley Regional Dispatch (IVRD), argued that the county's $25,000 fee offer (plus Mendota’s 9-1-1 surcharge revenue) did not reflect Mendota’s pro rata share and would amount to an unsustainable subsidy: "If the county makes a decision to just give Mendota dispatch for $25,000, that would be irresponsible of the county board members and not in the best interest of all of the taxpayers of the community," Duncan said.
Diana, the county 9-1-1 director, described how surcharge revenues are intended and cautioned against consuming reserves for recurring payroll: "While telecommunicator salaries are an allowable expense, consuming most or all surcharge revenue for payroll can produce the same practical results as a state diversion by leaving insufficient resources for technological upgrades and system resiliency," she said, noting the county's 9-1-1 fund balance is roughly $4.1 million and projecting future capital needs including console and CAD replacements.
Board members expressed concern about transparency and the scale of the county's public-safety sales-tax reserves, urged additional study, and recommended a formal working group or time-and-cost analysis before any intergovernmental agreement is finalized. On a roll-call vote to postpone action indefinitely the board recorded 22 ayes and 1 nay; the motion carried.
The board referred further technical questions about call-count methodology, pro rata allocation and capital-needs planning to ad hoc work by the JETSB committee and the county's public safety committee; no binding intergovernmental agreement with Mendota was approved at the meeting.
