COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — The City of Colorado Springs wants to leave its decades long partnership with the El Paso Teller County 911 Authority (EPTC-911) and create its own city 911 authority.
The decision has been met with criticism across the region, as local leaders in agencies a part of the authority say they were caught off guard by the announcement made Monday.
"I guess if I had to sum it up in one word, shocking," said Chief Andrew York with the Cimarron Hills Fire Department. "[It was] not something we were expecting, not something that had been talked about at all in any circles that we're a part of. So frustrating and and shocking."
Wednesday afternoon, the EPTC-911board met for the first time since the announcement was made, several board members shared their frustration in how they found out about the news. The authority's Executive Director, Renee Henshaw also raised concerns.
"I'm not entirely sure that city council is fully aware of everything that is required for this transition," Henshaw told board members Wednesday, she referenced the city's mention of a "duplication of services" during its Monday news conference.
"I just want to ensure city that council and the member of public have a full picture of everything that's involved prior to making a decision as monumental as this," said Henshaw.
“This isn't a decision based on us trying to decide something for other communities," Colorado Springs Police Deputy Chief John Koch said, "it's about the city and city's leadership doing what we believe is in the best interest of the people of Colorado Springs."
The 911 authority does not control dispatch call centers in the region, instead it provides training, quality assurances and mapping software services, better known as geographical information systems (GIS).
So far, only estimates have been provided for the financial impact of Colorado Springs leaving the authority.
The City of Colorado Springs believes it will save about $4 million by retaining the money people in Colorado Springs pay to the regional authority, keeping the money in the city.
Henshaw, is not sure that's the case, as the exact numbers are not available right now.
"That's the challenging part of this because we are a combined authority, when the telecom companies submit their surcharges to us, based on a billing address, they look that up and they're like, okay, this this money goes to the El Paso Teller Authority, and then they send those monies to us, there's no breakdown to say this percentage of it is from Colorado Springs this or percentage of it is from Teller County, etc.," said Henshaw.
News5 reached out to the Public Utilities Commission and the state's Department of Revenue both referred to the El Paso Teller County 911 authority. The city of Colorado Springs is confident about its estimates.
"We won't know, for several months what the specific numbers are," said Koch. "We've already spoken with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission about that, but I still believe that the percentage of revenue that we are estimating is going to be pretty accurate in the end."
York, and others are concerned about the future of the authority with Colorado Springs leaving.
"How do you fund an authority with over thirty staff members and providing all of the services that they staff with seven remaining million dollars? It it just can't work," said York.
Henshaw said there are currently 23 employees at the authority.
"One of the representatives from the city of Colorado Springs used the word collaboration, collaboration; and it frustrates me that he used that word because there was zero collaboration ahead of this announcement, zero stakeholder input," said York.
During its Wednesday meeting, Colorado Springs Police Deputy Chief Jeff Jensen stepped down as the Board chair as part of the transition. The board also created a subcommittee of two board members and two 911 authority employees to look at the next steps.
Henshaw said she would've liked to have discussed alternatives, including figuring out if there was a way to keep Colorado Springs in the authority and change funding practices for the city.
"It is the right of Colorado Springs to withdraw from the authority and do this," said Henshaw. "I just want to make sure that all the information is out there, prior to moving forward with a formalized decision, and if that is their final decision, we'll respect that."
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