KenCom Dispute Lands in Court

Yorkville, Oswego and Plano want a judge to tell KenCom 911 dispatch service leaders that they can’t stop dispatching for the municipalities in December.

The three towns filed legal paperwork Thursday afternoon asking a judge to maintain service – and the three towns’ representation on the KenCom governing board – while the legal dispute continues.

Ultimately, the towns are asking a judge to order KenCom leaders to honor a 2007 intergovernmental agreement rather than a new cost-sharing plan the towns rejected early this spring.

A hearing on the temporary restraining order motion could be scheduled for Monday.

Funding is at the heart of the conflict. The county has covered any KenCom operating expenses that went over the 911 telephone surcharge money collected since the dispatch service was created in 1990, the motion for a temporary restraining order states.

However, under the new agreement proposed in November, Kendall County would only contribute about $1.6 million, with the towns covering whatever expenses went beyond that $1.6 million and the telephone surcharge amounts.

Meanwhile, each town has one representative on the 12-member KenCom executive board.

On March 3, the KenCom board told representatives from the three towns that they were no longer members of the board because their towns were the only members that had not approved the cost-sharing plan, the motion states.

On June 23, the board set a July 28 deadline for the towns to approve the cost-sharing plan, or KenCom leaders will start planning to transfer emergency calls to the local agencies by Dec. 1.

The towns estimate they would have to spend $1.7 million to set up their own dispatch service by Dec. 1 and about $900,000 a year to provide dispatch service, according to the motion.

“None of these three municipalities can spend such monies,” the motion for a temporary restraining order states. “None have budgeted for such an expense in fiscal year 2011-12, and they are unable to spend money that is not appropriated. Furthermore, none of the municipalities has the ability to raise sufficient funds before Dec. 1.”

KenCom also includes the village of Newark, the Lisbon-Seward Fire Protection District, the Newark Fire Protection District, the Little Rock-Fox Fire Protection District, the Bristol-Kendall Fire Protection District and the Oswego Fire Protection District.

(Editor's note: The motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injuction is attached to this article as a PDF file.)