Offi ce of

BRIAN D. GARDNER MAJOR GERALD W. HANSEL JR.

COLONEL JOHN C. STUELKE
Chief Deputy 2nd Deputy
joh n.stuelke@linncounty.org gerald. hansel@linncounty.org
Linn County Sheriff
MAJOR JOHN A. GODAR MAJOR DOUGLAS A. RINIKER
310 2nd Ave. S.W. 2nd Deputy
2nd Deputy
john. godar@linncounty.org P.O. Box 669 doug. ri niker@linncounty.org

Cedar Rapids, IA 52406-0669

sheriff@linncounty.org www.linncounty.org

The Following Contains Supportive Information Concerning the Need

for the Increase of the Linn County E-911 landline Surcharge from
$.25 to $1.00

History of the $.25 surcharge:

When the E-911 Board was first formed one of the many things that needed to be done
was to derive at the amount of surcharge we needed to ask the public to support. The
$.25 cent figure was arrived at by asking all of the telephone providers in Linn County to
give us an estimate of the total number of land lines at that time. At the same time we
looked at what the Linn County Board of Supervisors was paying for 911 trunk lines and
other expenditures that were being made in regards to E-911 service. We also took into
consideration the need to upgrade the PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point)
equipment at Cedar Rapids, Marion and Linn County, for which we received budgetary
estimates. After totaling the expenditures and determining the total number of lines at
that time, we arrived at the $.25 figure, which included some room for growth.

Over the past several years we have been doing more with less. It's now to the point
that if we don't raise the surcharged based on budget projections, we will not be able to
meet our obligations, let alone help the emergency responders with communication
equipment.

100% of the funds collected from the land line surcharge directly benefit and support
Linn County Public Safety entities.

The surcharge collected by Linn County is administered by local representatives from

the communities, jurisdictions operating PSAPs, and fire districts in Linn County.

The $.25 surcharge has been in place for almost 20 years, yet the cost of technology
has grown over that same time period.

Landline surcharge funds have been decreasing across the county and we have started
to see that trend here.

The funds collected from the wireless surcharge (cell phones) goes directly to the state
to support the wireless E-911 system. Although the Linn County E-911 Service Board
has received some funds from this surcharge, we expect as the state moves toward NG
9-1-1, that amount to decrease over the next several years.

Sheriff's Office Civil Process Criminal Division Dispatch-Patrol

(319) 892-6100 (319) 892-6240 (319) 892-6250 (319) 892-6100

Fax (319) 892-6276 Fax (319) 892-6241 Fax (319) 892-6242 Fax (319) 892-6275
 FY
FY
$ FY
08
07
09
FY06
10
$133,733.72
$299,497.18
96,413.61
46,681.19
139,789.20
$412.019.65
$346.178.37
131,916.87
298.928.71
315.606.04
279.851.70
294.641.21
$432.662.43
$ $426.558.08
419.640.90
Wireless
Surcharge

As technology grows, the public expects more from public safety and 9-1-1; that comes
in the form of Next Generation 9-1-1. Probably one of the most pronounced advances is
the ability to use text messing to call your E-911 PSAP. Blackhawk County
demonstrated this as a pilot program in June of 2009. At this time the cost to upgrade
the three PSAPs is unknown, as much of the equipment is not in place to support this
effort, but we know that there will need to be a significant investment to move to this
technology.

Funds will also be utilized to support the upgrade of the public safety radio system. The
FCC has mandated that all radio equipment that currently uses 25 kHz channel spacing
(wideband) to 12.5 kHz channel spacing (narrowband). Linn County public safety
agencies received an RFP and are currently in the processes of awaiting bids on the
implementation of a county wide radio system which would put all of the emergency
responders in Linn County on one common radio system. Although we will not know the
cost of the system until mid December, we do know that we will need help from the E-
911 Service Board to help finance radio equipment for many of our community's law
enforcement personnel and volunteer fire services. This will include the two-way radio
system and the emergency paging system, all of which will need to be upgraded under
the narrowband mandate.

Over the past several years, the Linn County E-911 Service Board has purchased
mobile and portable radios for several, if not all, of Linn County's public safety agencies,
full and part-time alike. They have invested in PSAP upgrades to keep the equipment
up to date and in good working condition. They have in the past, and continue to,
replace pagers and paging equipment for all of Linn County's police, fire and EMS
personnel.

The Linn County E-911 Service Board has acted responsibly and has held the line for
nearly 20 years, and continues to do so by looking toward the future at what the needs
will be and how will we meet these needs.

The surcharge is an investment in public safety pure and simple. As technology grows,
the demands become greater on police, fire and EMS agencies. These costs are real
and are for the good of the citizens of Linn County.