Illinois Study Is Landmark Source of 911 Info

A consultant’s study of Illinois‘ 911 systems shows that funding from 911 surcharges falls 20 percent short of funding the state’s emergency telephone service, and also sets out a path for improvements on the way to Next Generation 911 (NG911) service within the state. The three-volume report by the St. Louis (Mo.) firm Stone Carlie includes a survey of Illinois’ public safety answering points (PSAP), and an enormous amount of 911 information gathered from other states and large U.S. cities. Besides answering many state questions, the consultants’ report also provides several benchmarks useful for states who are facing the same reality—the costs of providing emergency communications has far outstripped 1970-era funding sources based on wired telephone lines. Besides funding shortfalls, the study found that annual 911 data is reported manually each year, making analysis difficult, and that there is no uniform method of accounting for 911 surcharge receipts and disbursements. Oversight and coordination of 911 is light. Significantly, the public is “not well informed” about 911 systems, limiting their use of the system and their political support for funding and upgrades. The state can borrow 911 surcharge funds any time, the consultants said, and some surcharges are routinely collected and swept into the state’s general fund. Download (pdf) the main report, and also the PSAP survey summary and full survey numbers.

This chart from the consultants' study shows that Illinois has a large difference between 911 surcharge income and 911 system expenses.

This chart from the study compares 911 surcharges from Illinois and other most-populous states. See the full report for an explanation of the data.