Cost Dispute Stalls Emergency Radio Plan : Public safety: Some cities consider leaving network as county looks to 31 municipalities to pick up more of the tab.

By SHELBY GRAD

Dec. 25, 1995 12 AM PT

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SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

A year after the county plunged into bankruptcy, plans to build a nearly $80-million emergency communications system remain at risk because cities and the county cannot agree on a cost-sharing plan.

The 800-megahertz radio network--which would link all of the county’s police, fire and public works agencies in one system--is strongly backed by law enforcement officials who said it is critically needed to maintain public safety.

But after 12 months of squabbling over how to share the costs, some cities are quietly considering the possibility of pulling out of the network--a prospect that officials said would reduce the system’s effectiveness.

“It works best for everyone if all 31 cities as well as the county are included,” said Robert A. Griffith, director of the county’s General Services Agency. “If a significant number of partners decide not to participate, it reduces the advantages of the system for everyone.”

City and county officials have been planning the Motorola network for nearly a decade. Before the December 1994 bankruptcy filing, both sides agreed on a funding plan that called for the county to pick up 45% of the costs, and cities to cover the remainder.

Because of losses from the financial crisis, however, the county now says it can only afford to pay 39% of the costs leaving the cities to contribute about $50 million.

Many cities are unhappy with the prospect of carrying the extra financial burden. While some remain fully committed to the system, others are reassessing whether the added costs make the network a bad deal.

“No one is saying this is not a meritorious project, because it is,” said Robert C. Dunek, city manager of Los Alamitos. “But we have to look at our budgets and see what we can afford. The county says it cannot pay its share of the costs. But that doesn’t mean cities can afford it, either.”

Dunek and others stressed that cities too suffered when a county-run investment pool lost $1.64 billion of its value last year. The pool contained money invested by the county as well as cities, school districts and special districts.

The bankruptcy also affected a $12-million trust fund that some municipalities created to hold their contributions for the radio system. Because the trust fund was considered part of the county treasury, cities will only receive 80% of the money they set aside.

“So not only are we being asked to incur more costs for the system, we are getting less money back from the trust fund,” Dunek said. “That continues to increase our share even more.”

The growing costs have prompted at least half a dozen cities to study options other than joining the 800-megahertz network, according to the Orange County City Managers Assn. County officials said that only two cities--Santa Ana and Seal Beach--have formally raised objections to the latest funding breakdown.

“Some cities are clearly not happy with the arrangement,” Griffith acknowledged. “But from our point of view, this is the maximum the county can do.”

Griffith maintains that the system’s benefits still outweigh any drawbacks. The Motorola network would dramatically improve rescue efforts during natural disasters, he said, by allowing public works agencies to communicate directly with fire departments.

Under the existing 400-megahertz system, public works crews must send their messages through dispatchers who transmit them to firefighters.

The new network would also enable police and fire officials to maintain speedy radio contact with colleagues in surrounding jurisdictions. The current system is so overtaxed that officers often must wait several minutes before getting through to adjacent agencies, Griffith said.

City councils will probably vote on the funding proposal early next year. Elected leaders said it will be difficult to balance the public safety benefits of the system with the extra costs and their deep dissatisfaction with the county.

But if an agreement isn’t reached soon, the Federal Communications Commission could take away the frequencies now being reserved for the project.

For some officials, the decision might ultimately rest in large part on the actions of surrounding municipalities.

“It doesn’t really make a lot of sense for us to join if two or three [neighboring] agencies are not in it,” Fullerton City Manager James L. Armstrong said. “The main benefit of this is the interconnections with other agencies. What we have to ask is how much that is worth.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Radio Rates

The County Board of Supervisors has approved a cost-sharing plan for an 800-megahertz emergency communications system. Under the plan, the county would cover 39% of the costs and cities would pay for the remainder. Some municipal officials are unhappy, saying this places too much of the financial burden on cities. The amount each city would pay:

City: Amount

Anaheim: $5.9 million

Brea: 2.2 million

Buena Park: 1.3 million

Costa Mesa: 2.3 million

Cypress: 1 million

Dana Point: 454,000

Fountain Valley: 1.1 million

Fullerton: 2.1 million

Garden Grove: 2.6 million

Huntington Beach: 4.6 million

Irvine: 2.5 million