KALAMAZOO, MI -- Voters' rejection this week of a tax increase to consolidate the Kalamazoo County's 911 dispatch operations won't stop the merger, officials say.

But it still leaves open how a consolidated dispatch will be funded over the long term.

"It doesn't mean (voters) are opposed to consolidation, but rather we need to go back with partnering agencies and local units of government to come up with better funding mechanism," said Jeff Troyer, executive director of the Kalamazoo County Consolidated Dispatch Center, which put the issue on the ballot.

According to unofficial election results, 62 percent of voters opposed a surcharge increase on phones able to dial 911.

The proposal sought to increase the surcharge from 42 cents to $2.30 per month. Residents would have paid $27.60 each year for each phone line for five years, compared to $5.04 under the current rate.

The KCCDA board will meet 3:30 p.m. May 11 to consider its options. The meeting will be in Room 207-A of the Kalamazoo County Administration Building.

A main point of contention among voters: Why does a consolidation promoted as a more fiscally efficient system require a tax hike?

Voters felt the plan was trying to "fleece the community" for funding, said John Cross Sr., president of the Kalamazoo Fraternal Order of Police, whose organization opposed the ballot proposal.

"People with a landline and four cell phones figured out how much it would impact their monthly budget," Cross said. "All in all I think the voters not only looked at the financial aspect of it but the nuts and bolts too."

Supporters of the plan said the KCCDA didn't do enough to educate voters on the rationale for the surcharge.

"(We were) out talking to residents every single night and hearing so many people saying yes," Sheriff Rick Fuller said. "In the end we started hearing more and more people saying they were confused.

Currently, the county has five dispatch centers, one each for Kalamazoo County, the cities of Kalamazoo and Portage, Kalamazoo Township and Western Michigan University.

One option for funding a consolidated center is asking each entity to contribute the money they currently spend on their 911 dispatch services.

But the KCCDA -- which was formed in 2014 for moved ahead on consolidation -- determined a surcharge is the most "fair and equitable" solution, primarily because it is a user-fee assessed to those with a phone capable of using 911 services and not based on property values.

It was also determined to be a more secure funding source than depending on each entity's annual budgetary process.

It cost $5.56 million total to operate the five public safety answering points in Kalamazoo County last year. The surcharge increase would have generated around $5.8 million a year, enough to keep the authority self-sustaining for five years.

The 42 cent surcharge raised $1 million in 2016, with the first $100,000 disbursed to each of the five 911 centers.

"We could continue using general fund dollars we use today until sometime down the road, (when we can) get citizens to understand why it needs its own funding mechanism," Fuller said.

Governing bodies of each five organizations passed formal resolutions supporting the surcharge increase. Most also said they would use money now spent on central dispatch to expand public-safety services.

Cross was critical of the resolutions, which he said proved leaders of the five entities are out of touch with voters' concerns.

"I think they were disconnected and, for lack of a better term, were sheep herded into the yes column," he said.

In early discussions about whether to place the surcharge on the May ballot, some Kalamazoo County commissioners said they thought the increase equated to a double tax.

Republicans on the board in December 2016 tried to make an amendment give general fund money the county had spent on dispatch back to the voters, but it failed.

Fuller hopes the authority reaches out to voters to discover why they were against the surcharge increase. He was hesitant to say that passing the savings along to residents would have swayed the vote.

Now, they'll have to find another way.

"I don't think it's an uphill battle," Troyer said. "(We've) already evaluated multiple funding mechanisms. A 911 surcharge is what our board thought was most fair and equitable. Voters decided differently."

Cross cautioned against presenting another ballot proposal.

"That would be the kiss of death," he said.

Results from around the county

A month before polls opened, the Kalamazoo Fraternal Order of Police began an effective late-election push against the ballot proposal. The union is worried how a consolidated dispatch might impact its members, who would be required to reapply for their jobs.

The organization, which represents law enforcement officers and some dispatchers, purchased 15 billboards across Kalamazoo County, ran local radio ads and displayed hundreds of lawn signs financed through union dues.

Tuesday night, dispatchers and union members met at the Kalamazoo Fraternal Order of Police lodge to watch the results come in.

Going into the vote, Cross was confident that enough voters were on his side, but thought it would be close.

"We didn't think the margin of victory would be what it was," he said. "We're pleased to see that even on an off-year election with (only) two ballot questions we got people to vote."

The proposal tripped out of the gate, falling behind by a margin of 2-1 as precincts began reporting results Tuesday. Support for the surcharge hike never managed to gain the lead as the night continued, but did see a large bump when absentee ballots were counted.

Cross said voters were more motivated to show up at the ballot box to make a statement. Though dispatchers have their own concerns about the restructuring, Cross said the financial burden was the main sticking point for the average resident.

In the city of Kalamazoo, 50.8 percent of voters wanted the surcharge increase. It won by a margin of 102 votes.

The ballot proposal failed everywhere else in the county. Oshtemo Township and Kalamazoo Township were the only other locations where the proposal won any precincts.

Overall, it fell 18,470 to 11,255. Totals represent roughly 15 percent of registered voters in Kalamazoo County.

Troyer said the election result simply means voters don't think 911 surcharge is the way to fund the consolidated dispatch operation.

"It doesn't mean (voters) are opposed to consolidation, but rather we need to go back with partnering agencies and local units of government to come up with better funding mechanism," Troyer said.

Either way, Fuller said the consolidation is essential. It would also allow all five PSAPs to make the switch to next-generation technology simultaneously.

Consolidation would lead to quicker call processing and dispatch times, he said, potentially resulting in faster on-scene times for field personnel.

"Saving seconds saves lives," he said.