Supporters of consolidated dispatch in Kalamazoo appear to have solved their funding problem, making it possible to launch a unified service after years of discussion and a false start or two.
On Monday the Kalamazoo City Commission agreed to a plan that will pay for the service. A ballot proposal that would have used a phone surcharge to fund consolidated 911 went down by a wide margin in May. But the 911 providers came up with a new plan, where they each contribute a certain amount to pay for the service. The city vote on Monday clinched the deal.
Consolidated Dispatch Executive Director Jeff Troyer says the authority has closed on a building and is now preparing for launch.
“We’ll start working towards implementing and deploying various systems and infrastructure throughout the county in preparation for, sometime probably late next summer for a go-live,” he says.
He says it took many meetings to get to this point.
“But I think the biggest key was that, after May second, everyone was still there,” he says.
Under the plan, a single authority will manage 911 dispatching within the county. Supporters say that consolidation allows for more efficient responses to 911 calls and that the new service will get some major technological upgrades.
