GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Kent County's 911 dispatch system is like an old Model T that's been souped up too many times to run smoothly, according to Sheriff Larry Stelma.

"You can put racing slicks on it and you can put OnStar in it, but it's still a Model T," says Stelma, who is leading the drive behind the Nov. 8 ballot request that would approve an additional 70-cent surcharge on every private phone - landline or mobile - and internet connection that is billed to an address in Kent County.

The 70-cent-per-month surcharge - collected over the next 20 years - would be on top of a 45-cent monthly surcharge that currently is being collected for 911 dispatch services. If passed, Kent County residents would pay $1.15 per month, or $13.80 a year, for every mobile phone or landline.

The surcharge, which will raise an estimated $4.5 million per year, will be used to update the county's public safety dispatch system so that all police departments, emergency responders and state police personnel can use the same radio equipment and the same radio frequencies.

Half of the new money will be used to pay for a countywide fire dispatch services while the other half will be used to convert the county's outdated dispatching system to the Michigan Public Safety Communications System, a network currently used by most neighboring counties and the Michigan State Police, Stelma said.

First responders in Kent County currently operate on a patchwork network of dispatching systems in which emergency first responders cannot communicate directly with local police agencies and state police officers.

"We've added Band-Aids to it and we've tweaked it, but it still uses UHF and VHF frequencies and you can only do so much on that," said Stelma in a meeting with the Grand Rapids Press editorial board on Monday, Oct. 3.

Kent County voters also are being asked in November to approve a 10-year property tax increase that would add .44 mills to property tax bills to provide a stable source of funding for the Grand Rapids Public Museum and John Ball Zoo. The tax would add $3.12 a month, or $37.40 a year, for the owner of a $170,000 house.

If voters reject the 911 surcharge request, Stelma said the county will be forced to continue operating on its outdated dispatch system.

"Police can't talk with fire, fire can't talk with police and both cannot talk to emergency medical responders," he said. "We can't talk to any of our neighboring counties or the Michigan State Police."

While some counties, including neighboring Ottawa County, pay for their 911 services with a property tax, Stelma said Kent County commissioners decided to go with a surcharge because a property tax placed an unfair burden for 911 services on communities with high property values.

For example, a property tax would mean Cascade Township residents would pay nearly 20 percent of the system's cost even though it has only 3 percent of the county's population.

While the surcharge increase will more than double the fees Kent County residents are paying now, Stelma argues the proposal would still cost residents less than other counties with metropolitan areas. Fifty Michigan counties levy a surcharge at an average rate of $1.46 per month, according to county statistics.

For example, Ottawa County collects $18 a month per resident while Washtenaw County collects $19.74 per capita. Oakland County's surcharge collects $22.85 per resident while Ingham County collects $25.77 with its combination of a property tax and surcharge.

For businesses, the surcharge will be applied to each of the first 10 phone or data lines individually. After that, one surcharge will apply to each of the next 10 lines. A business with 100 phone lines would be charged for 19 lines under the proposed formula.

Here is the language of the November ballot proposal:

Enhanced 9-1-1 Public Safety Dispatch

To provide dedicated funding to pay for an enhanced 9-1-1 Public Safety Dispatch system including (a) technology upgrades (including communication towers and new equipment for dispatch and existing police, fire, and public safety agencies), and (b) annual funding for fire dispatch as provided in the county 9-1-1 service plan, shall Kent County be authorized to assess an additional $0.70 monthly surcharge on communication service suppliers' billings to service users within Kent County for the period beginning July 1, 2017 and continuing through June 30, 2036? If approved, the additional surcharge would raise an estimated $4,500,000 per year.