GIBSON CO., IN (WFIE) -
Legislators are looking to increase the 911 fee statewide.
The House has passed a bill that would make the 911 fee for both landlines and cell phones $0.75. Meanwhile, the Senate has passed a similar bill that would make it $1.00.
Gibson County Sheriff George Ballard says he still has concerns about the future of enhanced 911 services.
Sheriff Ballard says much of the Gibson County area is rural and with 77 percent of their 911 calls are coming in from cell phones. Having full, enhanced 911 services is vital to tracking down the emergency.
Sheriff Ballard says the concern is that some of Gibson County's fees are currently higher. It's $ 1.36 for landlines.
He says if one of these bills pass, the state would take over responsibility for collecting the 911 fees completely and that's another concern of his.
"I'm sure they'll have some kind of handling fee or administrative fee that they'll charge, so you're probably still not going to get $.075. It will probably be like $0.65 and that's going to be a significant hit for all 911 centers across the state,"said Ballard.
Ballard says if one of these bills is passed, it would benefit larger counties, like Marion County, because their rates are currently lower than what's being proposed.
Ballard says it's the smaller counties that would lose money.
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