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Last year, Thomas County and the city of Thomasville disbanded a joint emergency services agency.
Now, the city is separating from the county-operated 9-1-1 dispatch center.
One day after Thomasville’s city council voted to purchase its own 9-1-1 dispatch Thomas County commissioners voted to do the same for the county, Thursday night.
The city of Thomasville decided last week to break from the county run 9-1-1 system, and set up it's own operation. One day later, the county also approved the purchase of the same kind of equipment for it's outdated emergency system. Both systems come with a price tag of more than $860,000. And the double purchase is not setting well with some local residents.
Just how the new systems will be paid for has yet to be determined, the city says there's about $400,000 worth of sales tax proceeds that could be used. Another option could come from utility revenues. But some residents think they'll end up paying the tab.
City officials say they have already put the in the equipment order. The county has not yet placed an order for its new equipment. In any event, despite taxpayer concerns,
It appears separate systems will soon be a reality in the rose city, a situation that apparently grew out of previous rifts over fire protection between the two governments.
Once again, both city and county officials declined to comment about the separate dispatch systems.
