Taxpayers’ bill for new radio system: $14.5 million

Hamilton County’s emergency radio system is getting a $14.5 million upgrade, which county officials say will make taxpayers safer even as it lightens their wallets.

The system, considered the backbone of safety services, allows police officers, firefighters and other first responders to talk to one another during emergencies. Without it, different jurisdictions and departments would use different systems and would struggle to communicate.

County officials say the existing system, which covers all of Hamilton County, was last updated in 2003 and is using outdated technology. Some replacement parts are no longer available, they say, and the risk of breakdowns is increasing by the year.

“We’re talking about the infrastructure, the core of the system,” said Jayson Dunn, director of the county’s communications center.

County commissioners agreed last week to move ahead with the upgrade, which Dunn and others say is crucial. The system connects 6,000 individual radios from dozens of jurisdictions and handles some 9 million calls a year.

Since police and fire units from different jurisdictions often work together in a crisis, the ability to communicate on the same radio system is essential, Dunn said. The bigger the emergency – a tornado, a flood, a chemical spill – the more likely communications will be spread among several jurisdictions.

“This is a mission critical system for police and fire,” said Jeff Aluotto, assistant county administrator. “This is the backbone, the spine, the nervous system.”

The costs of the current radio system are covered by the county’s general fund, which comes from taxes, and from fees assessed to communities that use the county’s 911 system. It costs about $1.7 million a year to cover debt on the original equipment and another $1 million in annual maintenance.

The new system will cost about $2.1 million a year in annual debt and another $1 million in maintenance, which means taxpayers will pay about $400,000 a year more than they’re paying now.

That total is expected to drop a bit when the remaining debt from the old system is paid off over the next five years.

Dunn said the current system is still functional, but it will become increasingly difficult to maintain unless it gets the upgrade.