NEW PHILADELPHIA (Tusco TV) - The Tuscarawas County Commissioners are borrowing from the general fund to pay off the balance for countywide 911 system improvements.
Commissioners on Monday agreed to transfer $2.2-million to the 911 sales tax fund. Commissioner Joe Sciarretti says the amount represents what’s needed to pay Motorola in full for the roughly $8.6-million project that’s being funded with a temporary 0.5-percent sales tax increase.
"So once Motorola is paid in full we’ll no longer have a bill and there will be no interest accruing. All we basically did is take money from our general fund along with monies that have been being generated from that 0.5-percent sales tax to pay off that bill," he explains.
Sciarretti says roughly half a million dollars a month will be transferred from the 911 fund back into the general fund until the transferred money is paid back.
"So for roughly four and a half months, we’ll be putting $500,000 allocations in from the S82 back into the county general to pay ourselves back, and we’re doing all this without paying interest," he says.
County voters approved the two-year sales tax increase in the 2018 primary to pay for cell tower and software upgrades and new radio systems for first responders. The increase is set to expire in October, and the new system is expected to be operational sometime next year.
TUSCO TV