Schuylkill County commissioners on Wednesday passed a resolution supporting an increase in the state’s 911 surcharge to help fund emergency communication centers.

“Costs have gone up,” said Commissioners Chairman Barron L. Hetherington. “If we do nothing, the entire cost will eventually fall on the county.”

Commissioners voted unanimously to sign the resolution, but not before debating various options.

The legislation authorizing the surcharge, currently $1.65 on every phone line, sunsets on Jan. 30, 2024.

“Schuylkill County supports an increase in the 911 surcharge to $2.30, with a 15-cent annual increase until the next reauthorization,” the resolution states.

The increase would mean an extra 65 cents a month for consumers.

As it stands now, revenue from the surcharge funds 57 percent of the county’s 911 communications center costs, with the remaining 43 percent coming from property tax revenue.

Commissioners cited the need to address the funding system immediately and warned it will “reach crisis proportions if action is delayed past the Jan. 31, 2024 expiration of the surcharge authorization.”

“The county is joining with the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania to support the updated reauthorization of legislation before the sunset date,” the resolution states.

Without the increase, counties would need to fund any remaining cost through property tax dollars.

“Schuylkill County supports a five-year reauthorization that allows for time to better understand, and determine if a surcharge is still an appropriate funding mechanism as technologies and capabilities evolve,” the resolution states.

According to CCAP, if the 911 surcharge is allowed to sunset, counties will have to pick up the entire $506.2 million in estimated total costs, nearly tripling the burden on county property taxpayers.