The Grantsville City Council approved a new service agreement with Tooele County dispatch Wednesday night after last year’s agreement sparked contention and meetings with a competing dispatch agency.
The city council unanimously approved the new annual agreement, which would cost the city $118,161 — an increase of $3 over last year.
The city pays a population-based base fee and usage fee, based on a rolling three-year average of incidents. In 2017, Grantsville City will pay a $14,198 base fee and $103,964 usage fee, based upon an average of 7,345 incident calls over the past three years.
The usage fee is determined by the three-year average of incident calls multiplied by a $14.15 fee per call. The price per call increased from $13.52 in the 2016 budget.
Grantsville City trails Tooele City and Tooele County for the highest dispatch fees in 2017 with $332,658 and $203,002, respectively. The $1.2 million dispatch budget in the current year is paid through dispatch fees, 911 funds and contracts with state and federal agencies including Adult Probation and Parole and Bureau of Land Management.
Last year, the city’s conversations on dispatch fees dragged into June, including a meeting with Salt Lake Valley Emergency Communication Center. The city faced an increase of more than $22,000 in dispatch fees in 2016 through the county’s dispatch system and VECC offered savings of $40,000.
Last May, Tooele County Sheriff Paul Wimmer said he couldn’t match VECC’s prices due to the scale of the operation but said the quality of service from Tooele County’s system was better due to familiarity with the area and lower call volume per dispatcher.
The Tooele County Council of Governments is reviewing the possibility of creating a special service district to cover the cost of the county’s dispatch fees. COG is expected to review its options and make a decision whether it will move forward with the special service district during its April meeting.
If COG decides to pursue a special service district, it would be put on the ballot this November for a final decision from county voters.