OTTAWA — Ottawa city commissioners aren’t backing down in their disagreement with Franklin County commissioners over how much the city pays to help operate the 911 emergency dispatch center. Currently, Ottawa and Franklin County each pay half the costs of operating the center. However, Ottawa Mayor Sara Caylor and Commissioner Blake Jorgensen say the 50-50 split is unfair to city taxpayers. Although the city has proposed a 40-60 split, Jorgensen said he’s not sure that’s not fair. So far, the county commission has refused to budge, although they have offered to erase all city liability in running the center and set up a coordinating committee to oversee the center. The city was prodded into seeking changes after a lawsuit by a tow company against the 911 center. The county’s insurance carrier then rolled over on the city, seeking to force the city to pay half of the legal costs in defending the lawsuit. City commissioners said they’ll try to meet with county commissioners to try to work out a solution.
Monday, Sept. 9, 11:30 p.m.; updated Tueday, Sept. 10, 4 p.m.
