Progress Continues on New Equipment for 911

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Published on October 14 2014 10:20 am
Last Updated on October 14 2014 10:20 am
Written by Greg Sapp

The Effingham County 911 Board Tuesday laid over a tentative budget for the coming fiscal year. The measure takes into consideration the cost of new equipment for the two dispatching points.

The budget anticipates total income of $594,000 as opposed to total expenditures of $583,751, leaving the budget about $10,000 in the black. A PSAP equipment upgrade is not specifically included in the budget proposal, but does allow for use of cash reserves to at least start the upgrade.

911 currently has $898,000 in reserves, with the nest egg created specifically for the upgrade. It's not yet known what the equipment upgrade will cost, but those figures are to be available for a meeting of the 911 Board's Equipment Committee on November 5. The 911 Board has considered a lump sum acquisition of the upgrade, but might instead complete the upgrade over several years, as funds allow.

Following a closed session, the 911 Board approved a $1,000 raise for System Administrator Jodi Moomaw, to $13,000/year. It's the first increase in the System Administrator pay since Moomaw took over the post in 2008. Board member Johnathon Paholke abstained from the vote, since he works under Moomaw as a dispatcher.

Moomaw reported that 911 dispatchers would again this year participate in the Effingham Halloween Parade on October 26, and had a good response at the Effingham Fire Department Open House earlier this month. A reminder that coloring pages from this month's Open House are due at either the Effingham Police Department or at the Effingham County Sheriff's Department no later than Wednesday.