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BOARD APPROVES 2010 MECA BUDGET

By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 11:52 PM CST

A proposed 2010 budget that calls for less funding from user agencies and more from cellular telephone usage was approved by the Metropolitan Emergency Communication Board Tuesday morning.

The board is composed of Jefferson County Judge Mike Holcomb, Pine Bluff Mayor Carl Redus Jr., Sheriff Gerald Robinson, Pine Bluff Police Chief John Howell, the Chief of the Pine Bluff Fire Department, and White Hall Police Chief Noel Foster, who represents the 9-1-1 board.

Because of the fire in downtown Pine Bluff Tuesday morning, the fire department did not send a representative to the meeting.

MECA is funded by user agencies and 9-1-1 money is collected by both land line and cellular telephone companies who provide service in Pine Bluff and Jefferson County.

Total budget

The total 2010 budget is $1,657,360.24, an increase of almost $37,000 over the 2009 budget.

Karen Quarles, interim coordinator of the county Office of Emergency Management, said the 2010 budget is essentially the same as the budget that was approved for 2009, with the addition of one slot for an ACIC (Arkansas Crime Information Center) clerk on the 3-11 shift, and $5,000 added to the fund used to pay part-time employees.

Before the MECA board meeting, the 9-1-1 board met and agreed to the transfer of $606,000, money collected from telephone companies, to the 2010 MECA budget. That figure is $47,000 more than what was estimated for 2009.

“That’s a lot of money but it can’t go anywhere unless we agree to transfer it,” said Foster about the money in the 9-1-1 account.

While money from land line phone calls was projected to decrease next year by more than $3,000, funds from the use of cellular telephones is expected to increase by more than $50,000.

That increase will result in funding from user agencies decreasing in 2010, said Holcomb, chairman of the MECA board.

For example, the city of Pine Bluff, which contributes 70-76 percent of the total agency funding for MECA, will see its bill drop from $685,692 to $676,672 next year, which Jefferson County’s will go down from $245,652 to $242,420.

Melinda Elliott, the operations manger for MECA told both boards that the Arkansas Cellular Telephone Board has started to reimburse the agency for some maintenance and training costs, the first time they have done that.

“In January, we’ve got to replace our recorder and that’s going to cost between $40- and $50,000,” Elliott said. “We’re going to request that they reimburse us for that.

“They’ve done that for smaller agencies and if they won’t pay for the whole thing, they might do a portion of it,” she said.

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