Wheeling may try again to raise 911 surcharge

Despite the hesitation of some board members, it looks like Wheeling will try for the third time to get a 911 surcharge approved by voters this November.

Village President Judy Abruscato backs the charge and thinks the rest of the board should too.

"If we don't get that money, it will have to come out of the general fund and we can't afford that right now," Abruscato said."We're talking about $1.45. That's not even a case of pop."

The requested 911 surcharge increase would almost double the fee, which is now 75 cents a month for each land telephone line in the village.

By law, the money raised by this surcharge can be used only for police and fire dispatch services, and the village wants the extra money to keep the system and its technology up to date.

In February, Wheeling residents narrowly rejected the proposed increase in the monthly 911 surcharge - 1,561 votes were cast against it and 1,400 residents voting for it.

Voters rejected the same increase in 2008.

Trustees talked about the surcharge at a board meeting this month. Only trustees Patrick Horcher and Robert Heer said they would not support asking voters to approve the additional charge on Nov. 2.

"This failed twice already? I don't see any point," Horcher said.

Heer said he wouldn't back the idea because taxing only landlines and not cell phones unfairly targets seniors.

"I know we need the money but it's not fair to seniors," he said. "We have to talk about a different way to fund this."

However other trustees like Dean Argiris said the vote was so close last year, it's worth trying again.

"The first time we lost by 1,100 and the last we lost by just 200," he said. "I don't want this on the general fund. It's all about education."

The Wheeling village board will vote on the issue on Monday, the last day a local government can vote to approve a referendum on the November ballot.