Democratic Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk says limits on the county 's use of surcharges paid by cell phone users has hampered efforts to improve 911 center operations.

A key Republican state legislator said Falk is using the surcharge as an excuse to cover up a lack of leadership.

The cell phone surcharge is slated to evaporate at the end of November "because the original intent -- the purchase of the equipment -- was fulfilled, " State Rep. Phil Montgomery, R-Ashwaubenon, chairman of the Assembly Energy and Utilities Committee, said Saturday.

The monthly surcharge on cell phone bills was created in 2005 to cover the costs of federally mandated technology to track the locations of cell phones calling 911.

The fee started at 83 cents a month and rose to 92 cents in 2006. The Public Service Commission dropped the fee to 43 cents this year because of an increase in wireless customers and a decrease in requests for reimbursements from counties.

Last week, Falk said the counties have been lobbying the Legislature for years to allow municipalities to extend the surcharge, spend it on emergency services and expand it to landlines as well as cell phones.

"We have urged the legislature to change the law, not only continue it and eliminate the sunset, but to include operating costs, but they have not done so, " she said.

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Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett last month said the changes should be included in the pending state budget repair bill.

But Montgomery, who sponsored the surcharge law, said that would "not only double the tax but remove any definition of what it is to be used for and double the number of people you are taxing -- and do all this without a public hearing by sneaking it in as a line item in a budget repair bill. "

"The whole purpose is so that Ms. Falk can stand in front of her constituents and say, I didn 't raise taxes. ' That 's baloney. "

Falk has defended funding and staffing levels for the 911 center, noting the department is often exempt from her usual request that county departments cut their previous year expenditures. Falk 's office says the county added eight new 911 positions since 1997, including four dispatchers.

Because of population growth, the number of dispatchers per 10,000 residents has decreased and is currently slightly below levels in 2004.

That year, a consultant 's report found staffing levels were insufficient. That report also considered call volumes and equipment. The 911 center is conducting an internal investigation to find out if staffing levels contributed to an incident last month in which a 911 dispatcher failed to return a call from Brittany Zimmermann the day she was killed.

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Montgomery said the Legislature is not at fault in the April 2 mishandling of the 911 call from the cell phone of slain UW-Madison student Brittany Zimmermann.

"For the county executive to try and misplace the blame for this horrific incident on funding by the Legislature is as bad as her attempt to call a tax something that it is not, " Montgomery said.

"You can have the best technology in the world. If you do not have a leader at the top that says here are the rules that are common sense throughout the U.S. with regards to a hang-up on a 911 call, then it is not equipment. It 's simply management. "

Montgomery said the Dane County 911 center dropped the ball. "Not only did they drop it, but for Ms. Falk to (cover up) by blaming the state Legislature for not giving her a golden goose, that is just wrong. "

Falk responded Saturday: "We have upgraded our 911 system over the years, and the existing surcharge on cell phones has helped us do that. I 've also taxed Dane County citizens each year for our 911 system. In fact, over $5 million a year. Mayor Barrett 's proposal would help local governments in these tight times. "

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Dane County is getting ready next year to spend $32 million on changes to its radio communications system. Dane County Board member Bob Salov, who is a member of the 911 center oversight board, said that will result in even more changes.

"It 's very possible that we 're looking at this radical change " as an opportunity to implement other changes at the 911 center, Salov said. "If there were an opportunity to make that change, now would be a good time. "

State Journal r

eporter Matthew DeFour contributed to this report