Carbon County has invested significantly to ensure the safety of its residents and visitors in the event of an emergency; however, even with the upgrades, future financial uncertainties have created some concern.

In 2024, the county completed several projects to help with 911 communications, including moving equipment to a new tower for better coverage; enhancing the Fire 1 Simulcast in central and southern Carbon County for fire departments and a Police 1 Simulcast at the Broad Mountain and Lehigh Tunnel Tower sites for better coverage around the county; installing a paging transmitter at the 911 center to enhance paging in Nesquehoning; further enhancing the 911 geospatial data hub for dispatching; updating software to allow mobile CAD access to fire and EMS; and continuing to work on improving the state ESInet system.

Carbon also plans to work on several projects in the upcoming years to create a shared digital radio network with Schuylkill County, as well as creating a shared geo-diverse CAD system with Monroe and Lackawanna counties that will permit workload sharing among the counties.

Many of the projects are funded through a PEMA Interconnectivity Grant; however, it still takes approximately $2.3 million annually to operate the 911 communications center.

Recently, the commissioners spoke about their concerns about an act that is set to sunset next January that would hurt all counties’ 911 budgets if something is not done on the state level.

This act sets a surcharge fee on all telephone lines that then is used for 911 services. Carbon receives approximately $1.5 million annually from these fees for 911 operations.

The state Legislature, in 2024, passed an extension to Jan. 31, 2026, increasing the fees to $1.90 because the fee hadn’t been increased in years. However, more work is needed to help counties.

In 2023, counties urged lawmakers to increase the fee to $2.30 from the original $1.65 per month.

The commissioners questioned what will happen if the Legislature doesn’t pass another updated fee schedule, whether it would revert back to the $1.65 a month or stay at the $1.90 — or even go away all together.

“The biggest concern out there is does it go back down?” commissioners’ Chairman Mike Sofranko said, noting that if it reverts, that would be a huge hit for counties in supplying 911 coverage, which is required.

Commissioner Rocky Ahner said last month that there are so many fees already put on phone bills that the state should just make a standard fee, suggesting $5 a month.

“They should start looking at the other fees that we don’t even know what we’re getting charged for,” he said, noting that there are probably two or three surcharges that people don’t even realize are there or where they go. “Here’s a fee to help the community and we’re getting $1.90? I think that’s ridiculous. That should be the $5 fee and the other ones should be the $1.90.”

Commissioner Wayne Nothstein, who has been vocal about the Legislature not being more supportive of the 911 fee in the past, said that a lot of legislators had been opposed to increasing it because they see it as a tax increase.

“I put it to a legislator one time who told me that it was a tax increase,” he said. “Well, I said, ‘You just voted for me to raise taxes because somebody has to pay that bill.’ If there is nobody there to answer the phone, if we don’t have the proper equipment, if we don’t have the proper radios for our emergency responders then it comes back on the counties, not the state. They have to step up to the plate, too.”

He noted that the fee is not raising taxes, but is a surcharge that aids public safety.

Carbon County is facing millions in cost to upgrade radios to provide first responders for the new digital network and have been working on securing grants over the last year.

The 911 system is a crucial part of any county, one that cannot just be left unfunded.

In addition to phone calls, Carbon has also integrated a texting platform that allows callers to text 911 when they have no service or cannot speak on the phone.

The dispatchers at the center handle approximately 121,000 calls annually.