By VICKI URBANIK

The Porter County Commissioners moved forward with plans to merge Valparaiso’s 911 operations with the county’s by adopting a 2008 budget Tuesday reflecting the consolidation.

The county’s Enhanced-911 budget totals $2.3 million, an increase of $308,346 over this year’s. The bulk of the increase is to cover five additional 911 dispatchers hired from Valparaiso and a jump of about $55,000 for medical insurance for employees.

The funding for the 911 department comes from a $1.50 monthly fee on all telephone land lines. There are no plans at the current time to increase that fee.

County and city officials agreed in July to have the county’s 911 department take over Valparaiso’s dispatching. The move will save the city money in employee salaries, though the city is also contributing about $150,000 for computer software. County officials have said that it makes sense from a public safety standpoint to have just one central dispatching unit; in addition to Valparaiso, the city of Portage has its own dispatching center.

E-911 Director Dave Sheibels said he expects his department to fully assume Valparaiso’s 911 functions sometime in January. The transition so far is going smoothly, with a training held for the new dispatchers on Tuesday, he said.

North Porter County Commissioner John Evans, who chaired Tuesday’s meeting in the absence of Commissioner President Robert Harper, commended Sheibels for the “tremendous job” he has done overseeing the consolidation.

Tuesday’s commissioners’ meeting was unusually brief. Evans and South County Commissioner Carole Knoblock postponed acting on a proposed amendment to the County Economic Development Income Tax plan. The proposal calls for rescinding $200,000 that had been set aside for regional transportation projects and reallocating these funds as the county’s dues for the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission, in turn freeing up the county’s general fund as agreed during the recent county budget hearings.

Evans said the matter was continued in order to get more information on just how much is needed for NIRPC and whether CEDIT funds from the previous two years also need to be reallocated as proposed.

In another matter, Valparaiso resident Robert Campbell addressed the commissioners to say that he beleives that properties are incorrectly receiving a homestead credit. He said, based on his experiences in another county, that he has reason to believe that some houses in Porter County that have been sold and are now rental units are still receiving the homestead credit. He said he has no names or proof of numbers involved.

The homestead credit is reserved for owner-occupied homes only and reduces homeowner tax bills. Local government units do not lose out by the tax cut, since state and county funds dedicated to the homestead credit make up the difference.

Evans agreed that it would be a serious matter if there are abuses in the homestead credit. He referred the issue to County Auditor Jim Kopp.

In another matter, the commissioners approved a request from the Porter County Animal Shelter to seek animal control contracts with municipalities in the following amounts for 2008: Burns Harbor, $682; Chesterton, $6,076; Hebron, $2,015; Kouts, $1,550; and Porter, $4,371.

The commissioners also approved tornado warning plans for Sunset Hill Farm County Park and the Old Jail Museum as presented by Emergency Management Agency Director Phil Griffith. The county now has emergency plans in place for every county building and facility, except for the prosecutor’s rented office.

Posted 10/17/2007