May 1, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
Meeting them halfway!
Last month, the Smithville-DeKalb County Rescue Squad asked the budget committee to allocate in the 2024-25 budget over $122,000 to replace with used models all the agency’s portable, and mobile radios, and at least four repeaters.
During Tuesday night’s meeting, the budget committee voted 4 to 3 to grant funding for half the request, $61,435 and that the City of Smithville be asked to fund the other half for the Rescue Squad. Voting in favor of the motion were Tom Chandler, Susannah Cripps, Mathias Anderson, and Jeff Barnes. Voting against were Glynn Merriman, Sabrina Farler, and Tony (Cully) Culwell.
Both the county and city annually make a contribution to the Rescue Squad as a non-profit group, since it is not part of county or city government like other emergency services. The county’s annual contribution to the rescue squad has grown in recent years from $11,500 in 2011 to $42,821 this past year. With the action taken by the budget committee Tuesday night, the rescue squad would be getting from the county in 2024-25 a total contribution of $104, 256 which includes half the funding request for the radios.
The City of Smithville’s annual contribution to the Rescue Squad is $3,000. No request on behalf of the rescue squad has been made to the city to help fund purchase of radios this year and the city’s 2024-25 budget is up for passage on first reading Monday night, May 6 with no such allocation.
Rescue Squad Captain Dustin Johnson addressed the county commission’s budget committee in April with the request. According to Johnson, the cost of new radios is more than $400,000 but he could make do with used radios which are cheaper.
“We are not asking for any more money in our budget,” said Captain Johnson. “We just want you to think about our radios. To replace all our radios is something like $400,000 but I have talked to Brad (Mullinax-911 Director) and I have come up with a plan. Starting to come on the market are used radios and I think for $122,870 we can replace all of them and have four repeaters in our vehicles. I couldn’t just go buy them tomorrow, but they are coming online, and Brad said he could buy them when he finds them online. If you (county) have any extra money, think about that so we could get our radios. I hate to go used but sometimes you have to do that,” said Captain Johnson.
If the county can’t fund the total amount of $122,870 in the new budget for the total purchase, Johnson said he would like to see at least some seed money be allocated.
Under an arrangement approved by the county commission earlier this year, a one- time expenditure of $1.3 million is to be made in a joint venture between the county and the 911 board to replace radios for the sheriff’s department and ambulance service through Motorola Solutions, except for the EMS mobile radios the state is going to fund. The Motorola radios are to be under warranty for seven years. The county and 911 are to share the cost with the county contributing $600,000 and 911 to put in $700,000. The purchase of mobile radios for the county’s fire trucks, which can be bought for half price, is also included in this package. Radios for the rescue squad were not part of that deal. The county has also made a regional application for funding through the FEMA Assistance to Firefighter Grant program to fund the purchase of portable radios for the county fire department.
After action on the rescue squad’s allocation Tuesday night, the budget committee approved by a vote of 4-3 the total appropriations to the various non-profit groups for the year 2024-25 which totals $406,946.
Meanwhile, the budget committee unanimously voted Tuesday night to remove from the proposed budget $5,000 in new spending for tablets as requested last month by Commissioner Greg Matthews. The fourth district commissioner wanted each member of the commission and county mayor to have tablet computers instead of having to work off paper documents, especially around budget preparation time.
“I am requesting for us to switch over to tablets and do away with all this paper, ink getting wasted, and time spent for thousands of sheets of paper getting copied and printed every year. It will cut back on a lot of waste and a lot of money in the long run. I don’t know what it would cost yet because there are different prices. There are 14 of us (commissioners) plus the mayor and whoever so we would probably need around 20 tablets. I would like to ask for $5,000 to be put back for the equipment and what doesn’t get spent can be returned,” said Commissioner Matthews.
With no hard numbers available as to exactly how much, if any money, would be saved by going to tablets, the budget committee rejected the request. Commissioner Tony (Cully) Culwell said at a time when the county is facing the possibility of a property tax increase or even a wheel tax to fund a jail/judicial center, he personally did not want any funds for a special consideration (tablets) spent on him.
All action by the budget committee is subject to final passage by the full county commission when the consolidated budget is adopted in June.