Funding for county 911 communication centers may be in jeopardy, officials report.

During the Carbon County commissioners' meeting on Thursday, Commissioner Wayne Nothstein, chairman, said a problem has come up with the funding source for communication centers throughout the state.Acts 78 and 56 are slated to end on June 30, meaning that if no legislation is passed or an extension isn't passed, the funding from these two grants will no longer be there.According to Gary Williams, director of the 911 Communications Center, Carbon County receives approximately $400,000 from Act 78 funds; and about $800,000 from Act 56 funds. The funds come from user fees that all cellphone and landline users are required to pay in their monthly bills.Wireless customers pay $1.25 a month while landline customers pay $1.50 a month. The money from these fees is then allocated for projects at 911 communications centers.Nothstein said negotiations are in the works with the hope of coming to an agreement for new legislation on these two acts.Williams added that he believes there will be an extension passed, but if not, Carbon has some money left over from previous years' allocations from Acts 56 and 78 that it will use at the communications center.In a related matter, the county approved a proposal from TuWay Communications of Bethlehem for the upgrade of the 911 analog paging system to a Tait QS2 simulcast alerting system. The equipment will be purchased through a Pennsylvania State Contract and the total cost of the project is estimated at $175,463.15. This includes both equipment and professional services.Williams said that the current paging system, which was installed in 1995 is starting to fail. Carbon County recently purchased Monroe County's former paging system to use for parts.The project is expected to take approximately three to four months to complete.Commissioners also adopted April 13 through 19 as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week in the county.The week was instituted in 1991 by the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International to recognize public safety telecommunicators who aid in providing 911 emergency assistance to citizens.The proclamation recognizes "the emergency dispatchers who work for Carbon County's Communications Center (who) complete countless hours of rigorous training, and successfully respond to calls for assistance which make a difference between life and death in countless instances."