A new funding formula at Northwest Regional 911 Center will dramatically shift what the 16 member communities pay for the service, leading at least one to consider leaving the partnership. Northwest's board of directors on Tuesday is expected to approve a $1.03 million operating budget that calls for the communities to contribute a total of $477,012.79. While that amount is only one cent more than last year's contributions, a switch in the funding formula has left several communities facing increases of more than 15 percent. In the past, communities paid based on population and assessed value of properties. The new formula continues to use both factors, but also considers the number of 911 calls that come from each municipality. The new formula will cause 10 communities to face increases ranging from 1 percent to 46 percent. Six communities will face a decrease in cost ranging from 3 percent to 13 percent. Dan Nussbaum, Northwest's communications director, said the board last month gave preliminary approval to the budget and that he has not heard any objections to it. Bellevue Mayor Paul Cusick, who also is chairman of the Northwest board, said although he plans to vote in favor of the new budget, he does expect the swelling costs will lead to Bellevue exiting Northwest. Cusick said while the new formula is more fair than others that were suggested, Bellevue cannot afford to continue to pay for 911 service when it could have its 911 calls handled by Allegheny County 911 at no cost. Current plans call for Allegheny County 911 to eventually to merge with the four current regional dispatch centers. While county officials have indicated they would prefer to merge entire centers, they recently said they would consider taking individual communities. Franklin Park, which will see a 12 percent decrease in cost, has been discussing leaving Northwest for months because of the rising costs of running the dispatch center. Cusick said if the Northwest board doesn't decide to merge with the county in the next few months, he plans to ask council to give notice that the borough intends to leave. The Northwest board, so far, has resisted the merger idea. Tobias Cordek, McCandless manager and chairman of Northwest's administrative committee, said until the county presents a formal plan for how a merger would work, he can not see the Northwest board agreeing to such a merger. In order to withdrawal from Northwest, communities must give a calendar year's notice. That means if a community gave notice today, it would not officially be out of the partnership until Jan. 1, 2005. Nussbaum said if individual communities decide to leave Northwest, it would cause a cash crunch that other communities would have to make up for. In Avalon, Manager Harry Dilmore said while borough officials aren't pleased with the increase, they aren't planning to abandon Northwest. Dilmore said borough officials aren't convinced that the county can provide the same high-quality service or do so at no cost forever. The county does not charge communities because its costs are covered by a phone bill surcharge that all county residents pay. "Do we like the increase• No," Dilmore said. "But right now we're staying the course." 911 fees Sixteen of the 24 communities served by Northwest Regional 911 next year will pay $477,000 of the center's $1.03 million budget. Eight communities do not pay for the service because they maintain their own dispatchers, who notify emergency crews after receiving the initial call from the 911 center. The bulk of the remaining funding comes from a surcharge residents pay on their phone bills. The 16 contributing users, who rely totally on Northwest 911 to dispatch, will pay these amounts: Aleppo: $8,754, up 2.3 percent. Avalon: $31,145, up 27.4 percent. Bellevue: $47,288, up 15.8 percent. Ben Avon: $10,524, down 3 percent. Ben Avon Heights: $2,443, down 12.9 percent. Emsworth: $13,442, up 4.3 percent. Franklin Park: $73,292, down 12 percent. Glenfield: $1,680, up 36.5 percent. Haysville: $398, down 13 percent. Kilbuck: $6,834, up 46 percent. McCandless: $174,377, down 6.6 percent. Ohio Township: $26,477, up 8 percent. Osborne: $4,364, up 1.2 percent. Sewickley: $31,470, up 5.8 percent. Sewickley Hills: $4,520, down 7.8 percent. West View: $40,004, up 8.7 percent. Other member communities are Coraopolis, Crescent, Edgeworth, Findlay, Moon, Neville, Robinson and Sewickley Heights.

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