MORRISON, Ill. — Whiteside County voters overwhelmingly voted against a proposed 1% public safety sales tax during the midterm elections on Nov. 8. The referendum failed 76.13% (15,184 votes) to 23.87% (4,761 votes).
The tax was proposed to help pay the rising costs of operating and maintaining the county's two 911 dispatch centers.
The sales tax would've been added on to items such as fuel and restaurant meals, but not on purchases of groceries, medications, vehicles, mobile homes and farm equipment.
"I just don't think they knew, had enough information about it," Sheriff John Booker said. "We need to do a better job to get that information out to the voters because in the long run, it would actually save money for the citizens of the county."
Currently, Sterling and Rock Falls cover more than half the cost to run the two dispatch centers at the sheriff's department in Morrison and the Sterling Police Department. Booker said it's expensive to pay the cost of salaries, benefits and training for the roughly two dozen dispatch operators.
"It's a huge expense to get these employees trained in this, to get them proficient in this," he said. "And that's why the 911 centers have really became a huge expense."
Stacia Massey has worked as a dispatcher in Whiteside County for 11 years.. She said some people view the job as a secretary, but it's more than just answering 911 calls.
"We're the ears of the call while our deputies are the eyes of the call," Massey said. "We're detectives, we dig and find things that some people don't realize. And that can make or break a case. We gather the information, we're not going to send them in blind. We're the first, first responders."
It's part of why she says the training dispatchers go through is so important because they never know what the call might be.
"It's priceless. We need funds so bad," Massey said. "You can't do it without us. You can't. And training, you can't have enough training."
Since the tax referendum failed, Booker said the county will explore other options to help fund the centers. It could mean passing costs on to towns and agencies in the county outside of Sterling and Rock Falls that aren't currently contributing equally to the 911 budget.
"The problem is, the volunteer fire department and ambulance services, that would be extremely tough on them for their budget to all of a sudden come up with that money," Booker said.
Ultimately, the county's goal is to just have one dispatch center. It would help consolidate services and require fewer operators, alleviating hiring struggles.
As of now, Booker emphasizes that the county is not at risk of losing its 911 services. Dispatchers will still be working to answer every call.
He believes the referendum will be back on the ballot in the future.
Whiteside County previously attempted to pass a public safety tax in 2020. It called for a half-percent increase, but also failed.
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