City in Indiana Owes $330,000 in Late Payments for Dispatch Center

April 08—A request for more than $330,000 in services rendered may be sent to the City of Terre Haute by Vigo County officials who said Tuesday that the city is more than six months behind on its contractual obligations for 911 emergency dispatch services.

Vigo County Auditor Tim Seprodi also told the Vigo County Commissioners that the city has not forwarded to the county any pre-trial diversion money collected through the city court system in January, February or March.

That court fee amount varies from month to month, depending on the number of people who sign up for the deferral program, Seprodi said, but it can be around $5,000 per month. Those pre-trial diversion funds pay for services through the Vigo County Prosecutor's Office.

The auditor said he sent a letter to city officials in January requesting the $330,000 due for the city's share of 911 emergency dispatching in the last half of 2014. Seprodi said he will send another letter that includes the request for pretrial diversion fees collected by the city.

Mayor Duke Bennett confirmed with the Tribune-Star that the county has sent notice not to renew its contract for 911 services as of 2017. When asked how the city plans to dispatch 911 calls, Bennett said that will be part of the negotiation with a new 911 contract with the county.

Bennett said he has not heard any resolution from the state about the city's question about possible double taxation, and until that matter is resolved, he said the city will not pay any additional funds to the county for 911 service.

"I'm not going to pay them until we know for a fact" that the city owes it, Bennett said.

Commissioner Judy Anderson told the Tribune-Star that the county has a five-year contract with the city to provide dispatching services to the city police and fire departments.The current contract ends Dec. 31, 2016, and the city has indicated it does not plan to renew the contract for 2017.

The first five-year contract commenced in 2007 when dispatching for all police and fire agencies in the city and county was centralized at the Vigo County Security Center, which houses the jail, sheriff's department and central dispatch The agreement was renewed to commence in 2012 and continue through 2016.

Seprodi said the city has, in recent years, paid its dispatching contract to the county after receiving its June and December tax draws. Two years ago, he said, the city was "way behind" on paying the contract, but did get paid up, he said. In 2014, the city raised a question about "double taxation" concerning the 911 bill; however, a review by state officials determined taxpayers were not paying twice for the same service.

Anderson said that when the city and county dispatching services were combined, it saved the city from purchasing dispatching equipment and computer software. If the city resumes dispatching its own police and fire runs, the city will need equipment to do it, as well as space.

Seprodi said that the county operates the primary 911 dispatch site, and the Indiana State University Police Department has the secondary 911 site as a backup. All 911 calls would still go through the central dispatch center, he said, but the city calls would then be transferred to a designated city agency to assign emergency responders to the request for service.

Judy Anderson and commissioners John Marvel and Brad Anderson said that the county has been covering the city's portion of the 911 bill so that service can be maintained. However, that puts a strain on county funds, Brad Anderson said, and the city's nonpayment of the pretrial diversion funds adds to the strain.

"We just really need to figure out what we need to be paying," Bennett said, noting that the 911 dispatch center is funded by by not only telephone fees, but also by city and county property taxes.

"We'll pay whatever our fair share is, whatever that is," Bennett said.

Lisa Trigg can be reached at 812-231-4254 or at lisa.trigg@tribstar.com. Follow her on Twitter at @TribStarLisa.