City representative urges county-led work session to resolve dispatching agreement and costs

A city representative urged the Jackson County Board of Supervisors to convene a focused work session on a disputed dispatching agreement, saying the county and the cities must "get in the room" to resolve who pays and how services are provided. The presenter warned that without a timely agreement, some cities could stop contributing and the county could face legal or operational risks. "A simple objective here is to get a work session together for the dispatching agreement," the presenter said.

Supervisors discussed options including county takeover, a supplemental levy and the possibility of shifting employees to county payroll. Chair Don Swanker said transferring dispatch services to the county could require substantial upfront IT and equipment costs — "an expense that I don't wanna transfer to the citizens of Jackson County." Board members agreed to schedule a multi‑party meeting including city representatives, mayors, auditors and dispatch staff to clarify cost-sharing and next steps. Several participants also suggested asking the legislature for a broader funding mechanism (for example a device or cell-phone fee) to stabilize dispatch funding across jurisdictions.