At the regular Tuesday Marshall County Board of Supervisors meeting, Supervisor Bill Patten said the state code is very exact when it comes to county governments borrowing money.

“If we borrow money and then spend it, that has to be in our budget,” Patten said.

He assumed the same rule would apply to city fire departments – if money needs to be borrowed to buy radios.

Supervisor Dave Thompson said some of the confusion about the project stems from the timing. The discussion about improving the system was first brought up in December by State Center Fire Chief Brad Pfantz. Thompson said the county was too far into the budgeting process at that time so they were not able to get funds.

Marshall County Supervisor Dave Thompson explains some of the financial aspects behind the effort to improve the emergency communication system in the county. He said cities and fire departments will be responsible for radios and pagers and the county will be responsible for the towers.

“At that time, we said we could probably do this in a three-year period because it was an 18-month build-out where we could possibly do it in three different budget sections,” Thompson said. “I think there was confusion that maybe some of the individuals thought those funds were in our system. Well, when we approve our budget, it is revenues and disbursements and once it is certified, that is the legal amount you are allowed to spend.”

Thompson said the board of supervisors will acquire and build the towers. He said the pagers and radios will be at the expense of the communities and fire departments.

“We are probably ready to get going on some of this, except for some of the financial end of it,” he said. “So I think maybe if we can work with RACOM and some other things and get this worked out in the next period of weeks, we can maybe make some further progress on this in this fiscal year.”

Patten said the budget never had anything for buying and building anything for the 911 system.

“Our budget never ever bought equipment, so this is a whole new deal for us,” Patten said.

The P25 radio equipment that sits in the shelter at the base of each tower.

Thompson said the supervisors should meet with Diana Richardson of RACOM one-on-one to work out some details.

“Obviously all three of us can’t do it at one time with you because that would be a violation of open meeting laws,” he said. “I think it would be better if you just worked with one of the supervisors and just work from there.”

Richardson, who attended the meeting via Zoom, said she would be able to meet with them.

Thompson also said an attorney would have to review the contract between the county and RACOM. However, he said the county will have to hire an outside attorney since the president of RACOM – Mike Miller – is married to Marshall County Attorney Jennifer Miller.

Patten agreed, saying he thinks this is what the county has to do to get the project started.

“At the same time, I hope the fire departments and the cities are talking about this,” Patten said. “If it’s not on their budget, it needs to get on their budget.”

Thompson said the county could serve as a borrowing mechanism for cities and fire departments, but added the county will not go into debt for it.

“The cities and fire departments who need the radios and pagers are the ones going into debt,” he said. “We’re just facilitating.”

Thompson said the board of supervisors has been crystal-clear the debt incurred by the cities will only be facilitated by Marshall County.

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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.