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9-1-1 Jobs Saved by Telecom Tax Increase
The City of Galesbug's 911 operators will continue to get paid now that the city has increased a tax to help do it.

The Galesburg City Council this week voted to increase the city's telecommunications tax from two percent to five percent, effective in July, that will be used in large part to pay the city's 911 expenses, mostly salaries.

The money is going into the general fund in the Fiscal Year 2012 budget, and City Manager Todd Thompson was asked why that is.

"In the proposed budget it's not transferred into the 9-11 fund," he said. "Rather the theory is that it offsets funds or expenses already transferred into the general fund over the years and would be able to be transferred into 9-11 if need be."

Thompson says the city expects to generate over a half-million dollar a year with the increase, though he says since it takes effect in July, in the first year, less than half of that would be collected.

Telecommunication tax monies are collected from both landline phones and cell phones, versus the actual 9-1-1 tax, which was only collected on landline phones.

Aldermen this week also approved naming the under-construction West Main Street overpass after State Representative Don Moffitt, but had virtually no discussion on the matter.
12 08 11 by Newsroom
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