The last required signature for the consolidation of the Howard County and Kokomo dispatch centers was obtained when Sheriff Marty Talbert signed the interlocal agreement Monday.
The interlocal agreement already has been approved by the county commissioners, county council, Kokomo Common Council and Mayor Greg Goodnight.
The Citizens Committee for Consolidation, created by the Howard County Commissioners earlier this year, recommended the two dispatch services be combined under the jurisdiction of the sheriff with a proposed budget of $1.4 million. The recommendation was the city of Kokomo pay 70 percent of the costs and Howard County pay 30 percent of the expenses, based on the number of emergency calls.
Although there have been numerous concerns raised about the $1.4 million budget, the county intends to implement the consolidation by paying all the dispatchers at the lower county salary scale, which will result in the elimination of seven full-time positions.
As proposed, approximately $620,000 of the funding would come from the 911 fee placed on land-line telephones and cellular telephones. Kokomo would provide 70 percent of the funding, or $541,807, and Howard County would pay $232,203.
The projected savings to Kokomo is $470,000. For Howard County, the savings would be $150,000.
Talbert and Sheriff-elect Steve Rogers have both indicated the actual cost of operating the consolidation dispatch services would be approximately $1.7 million.
City and county officials have been meeting to discuss the consolidating of the two departments.
Talbert said to implement the $1.4 million budget, the part-time positions will be eliminated first. He said the current city and county employee work records are being reviewed as part of the process to determine which employees will be retained.
“We want to determine the best people to keep,” he said. “There will be tough choices to make.”
Talbert said a lot of cross-training will be required before the actual merger takes place.