By Brennan David, Columbia Daily Tribune (Missouri)

The Boone County/Columbia (Mo.) Public Safety Joint Communications board agreed yesterday to abandon its 1977 agreement so it can try to establish a new governing board and win passage of a sales tax to fund operations.

Local police, fire, emergency services and governments reached the agreement long before the Missouri General Assembly established the process by which voters could approve establishing boards and collecting taxes for the purpose of supporting 911 dispatch services. The board yesterday decided it preferred to scrap its current agreement in hope that voters would approve the creation of a new board and sales tax in November.

If the arrangement is approved by voters, the city of Columbia would have much less say in dispatching services than under the current agreement. User agencies previously said they were on board with movement to a more regional approach for governing dispatch services in light of the city’s recent moves to cut the position of Office of Emergency Management director and move the office to the Columbia Fire Department without board authorization.

“It’s something we will have to get comfortable with,” Columbia City Manager Mike Matthes said of losing control. The city under the current agreement holds more than 60 percent of the vote.

The city and county governments have agreed to donate all equipment currently used to the new entity upon its creation, said Boone County Sheriff Dwayne Carey. The city also has agreed to allow joint communications to stay in its current location within the Columbia Police Department facility for the next two or three years as a new facility is constructed to house joint communications and emergency management.

Although details still are being worked out, Carey said the tax could be higher in its first few years to raise money for a new facility. An amount was not discussed, but members noted that a one- eighth-cent sales tax would only generate about $2.7 million, which is the agencies’ current budget.

Carey also noted that land on or near the sheriff department’s campus north of Columbia could be used for a new facility and that user agencies would continue to fund joint communications through December 2013.

“This is the best way to go,” said Scott Olsen, emergency management interim director and Boone County Fire Protection District chief. “There are a lot of efficiencies to gain. It takes some user agencies’ power away so one is not more powerful than the other.”

Approval of the ballot item would mean three current taxes would be rescinded: the county’s current land-line 911 tax; a Boone County Fire Protection District 911 property tax; and a Southern Boone County Fire Protection District 911 property tax.

It also would mean the public will elect six members regionally and an at-large member to govern the board. The initial board upon ballot approval will be selected by the Boone County Commission. The current board is made up of representatives of user agencies.

In preparation for the August deadline to get its proposal on the November ballot, Carey said he and Boone County Presiding Commissioner Dan Atwill will be asking local governments for resolutions in support of the plan.

Copyright © 2012 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved.