TOLEDO, Ohio — No matter where you live in Lucas County, if you call 911, someone at the joint dispatch center in Toledo will answer, rather than your local police department.
This is because Lucas County recently consolidated eight 911 call centers into one central dispatch with the goal of saving money for townships.
Now the money through the consolidation is being called into question. Andy Glenn said many members like him in Lucas County's 911 Council Technical Committee are against the current funding model.
They are expecting a 7% increase in 911 services in 2023 and need to find a new funding model, he said.
"The main complaint that everyone has with this currently, we know it's consolidated, we know that it's not going away," Glenn said. "We have to find a different funding model."
Glenn, also a part of Springfield Township's Board of Trustees, said Springfield should be able to fund the service through general funds or police and fire levies, but many smaller townships don't have those since they don't have fire or police departments.
Townships in Lucas County like Jerusalem, Providence, Richfield and others will become more at risk because 80% of their general fund would be used for the services largely impacting them.
The committee has already started lobbying state officials and county commissioners, and while Glenn said all the committee members agreed they need some sort of 911 service, some want more stability.
"What we'd like to see is something just like the state of Michigan does where you pay a per-line fee for every communication device, whether it's a cell phone, landline, internet connection," Glenn said.
He said the council hopes to hear the state's decision in the coming months. If unsuccessful, he wants the county commissioners to act on other proposed options.
Glenn also said some committee members won't vote on the 2024 budget if the county fails to change the system. The budget will be presented to the board of directors on Sept. 19.