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Politics & Government

Politics in KenCom Funding Dispute

Apparent agreement has been reached, but Yorkville leaders are not thrilled.

Some Yorkville aldermen had strong words for county board members last week before unanimously accepting a 911 dispatching agreement that pushes more of the expenses onto the city.

“I think the residents of Yorkville, Plano and Oswego should be appalled,” Ward 4 Alderman Rose Spears said, calling the cost-sharing plan double-taxation. “The county is already taxing us.”

Ward 1 Alderman Carlo Colosimo suggested Yorkville residents remain or become politically active next year as all county board members are up for re-election, while some county board members stood behind the decision to ask members of the KenCom dispatching service to contribute to the cost of running it.

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County board member Nancy Martin said she was disappointed with the “double-taxation” descriptions, emphasizing that many areas of the county are serviced only by the sheriff’s office rather than a separate policing agency. The sheriff’s office receives the most calls for dispatching, she said.

“If you live in the city, it’s entirely different than if you live in the county,” said Martin, who said she does not plan to seek re-election.

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Yorkville leaders initially balked at a cost-sharing plan that split KenCom operating costs above $1.64 million among its member agencies. Much of the $1.64 million likely would have been covered by the 911 telephone surcharge money that is funneled toward the county.

, the cities agreed to a cost-sharing plan that capped the county’s expenses at $1.88 million only to have .  County board members, as well as leaders for Plano, Yorkville and Oswego, most recently have approved an agreement with a $1.775 million cap.

During the legal dispute, county board members also agreed to ask voters to double the 75-cent telephone surcharge in the March 20 election.

Yorkville leaders were dissatisfied with the pending agreement last week, with Yorkville Ward 1 Alderman George Gilson Jr. emphasizing that the city has little power to influence spending decisions. KenCom’s Executive Board is organized so that each town has just one vote on the 12-member executive board.

“I’m going to vote for this, but the citizens of Yorkville should be outraged,” Gilson said.

However, city leaders seemed to have no good alternatives after a judge told them the coalition of Yorkville, Oswego and Plano likely would lose the upcoming court hearing set for Oct. 28.

Although city leaders have not publicly presented estimates of how much the cost-sharing agreement will cost Yorkville in coming years, estimates for starting their own dispatch service or joining others seemed prohibitive: Yorkville Police Chief Richard Hart placed very rough costs for joining Montgomery’s dispatching service at about $200,000 per year, while the three towns estimated in the lawsuit that starting their own dispatch center would cost upward of $1.7 million.

Under the pending agreement, Yorkville will pay $22,000 for KenCom services in May 2013 and May 2014.

After that, Yorkville’s contribution will be based largely on what portion of the dispatching calls it receives. Any annual expenses over $1.775 million will be divided based on call volume, with the police agencies covering 85 percent of the overages and the fire departments covering 15 percent.

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.

County board member Anne Vickery stood by the cost-sharing plan during a phone interview a few days after Yorkville’s reluctant approval.

“The small amount of money that they are being asked to contribute two years down the road is so miniscule, I am pretty much gasping that they have not grasped what this is really about,” Vickery said.

Vickery emphasized that the county was willing to loan KenCom – a separate legal entity - $1.2 million to build dispatching space in the Public Safety Center. KenCom would repay that money over 10 years without paying any interest, Vickery said.

She didn’t think the issue would have long-term political ramifications. She figured Yorkville leaders were sore because they incurred legal expenses to unsuccessfully fight the cost-sharing plan.

“They’ll get over it,” Vickery said. “And if they’re good politicians they’ll move on to the next thing as fast as they can and do the best thing for their taxpayers.”

But county board member John Shaw said he was willing to have the county chip in more money. He, as well as County Board members Dan Koukol and Bob Davidson, voted against the county’s for the county.

“To me, the county can afford the $1.88 million,” Shaw said, referring to an earlier cost-sharing proposal. “The cities are broke.”

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