The Vernon Parish Police Jury will increase fees and surcharges to help its floundering 911 hotline, and will be seeking other ways to help curb costs in the future.

Police jurors voted in favor of increasing the monthly surcharge per line to $0.95 for residential and the business line fee to $2.70. The increase represents an $0.11 increase for homeowners per line and a $1 increase for businesses per line. Businesses with multiple lines will be charged for up to 100 lines.

“The Police Jury and sheriff do not like having to increase this fee,” said Parish Administrator-Treasurer Rhonda Plummer. “But there is a real financial concern so we really don’t have a choice but to increase the revenue.”

During a Police Jury meeting last month Plummer told jurors the Vernon Parish Communications District, which manages the 911 emergency line, had come to the governing authority and asked for a monetary supplement to support its operations. The jury approved a one-time $40,000 supplement to the district, matched by the parish fire district. She said during the meeting the parish needed to consider raising surcharges to prevent having to supplement the communications district annually.

New construction will be required to pay a one-time permit fee. The permit will cost $20 and $30 for residential and businesses, respectively.

Police Juror Kenny Haymon was the only police juror who opposed both the resolution to raise permitting fees and the telephone surcharges. He said he did not oppose the emergency 911 hotline itself, but that he believed the Police Jury could have explored other cost-cutting measures.

“I just really didn’t have all of the information yet,” he said. “I really didn’t want to increase fees to the public without looking at other cost-cutting measures.”

Plummer said homeowners are much less likely to have a landline than back in 1991, when the surcharge was established, which has undercut revenue to the communications district. She told jurors the Police Jury would also be looking to support statewide legislation that would help Vernon and other parishes struggling with a financially sustainable 911 service.

She said this is the first time the parish has raised the surcharge.

The Police Jury also voted unanimously in favor of a resolution supporting Fort Polk, which was named in a report last month for potential cutbacks in troop numbers.(MGNonline)