Proposed 2026-27 Budget

Overall Budget Summary

The Proposed Budget recommends a status quo contribution to SCR911. Appropriations total $2,679,857, funded by revenues of $425,000, a General Fund Contribution of $1,608,857, and a District Sales Tax Contribution of $646,000. The District Sales Tax Contribution is part of the existing General Fund Contribution to SCR911 but is shown separately. Should the County’s contribution change following approval of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026-27 budget by the SCR911 Board of Directors, the change will be included in the June 24, 2026 last day or subsequent concluding budget actions.

Declining Revenues: The County receives revenue from the Emergency Response Fee collected by telephone companies on monthly customer bills. The fee applies only to landline telephones. Revenue continues to decline as landline use decreases, requiring increased General Fund contributions to maintain operations. The County may need to reexamine options to modify the fee structure, including the potential to extend the fee to cellular telephone services.

Capital and Building Improvements: The SCR911 facility was constructed in 1994 and is experiencing significant infrastructure aging. A facilities condition assessment completed in 2025 identifies several critical building components that require replacement or major repair. The 32-year-old roof requires replacement along with the leaking windows and rotten exterior door. The heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system and generator are more than 30 years old and require frequent repairs, with replacement parts becoming increasingly difficult to obtain. Additional improvements identified include installation of a fire suppression system that meets current standards, parking lot sealing, security system upgrades, and electrical system improvements. SCR911 is balancing its approach to capital improvements based on urgency and risk of failure, its ability to carry out the projects, and the members' funding limitations.

Records Management System Replacement: The public safety agencies served by SCR911 have selected a vendor for replacement of their existing law enforcement Records Management System (RMS). The proposed new system is cloud-based, is anticipated to improve productivity and data sharing, reduce redundant tasks and paper-based reporting, enhance officer situational awareness, and consolidate multiple databases used to manage law enforcement records. Implementing this system to meet the agencies' current and future needs requires a substantial budget increase in FY 2026-27 to fund both implementation and subscription costs. In FY 2026-27, the total amount budgeted is $1,311,095 based on the vendor’s current quote, which does not include a few of the requested components, and the project team is discussing options to handle these components.

Dispatch Radio Console Replacement: Dispatch radio consoles will be replaced as part of the Santa Cruz County Regional Interoperable Next Generation (RING) project. Installation is scheduled to begin in Spring 2026. The project includes deployment of new dispatch radio consoles at SCR911’s primary communications center and the Watsonville backup center. The total purchase price is $1,450,000. SCR911 will make an initial payment of $703,000 in FY 2025-26. The remainder of the purchase costs will be amortized over the next five years at an estimated cost of $150,000 per year. The FY 2026-27 budget also anticipates that the consoles will be installed in FY 2025-26, resulting in system maintenance costs being due towards the end of FY 2026-27. There is a total of $250,000 budgeted in FY 2026-27 to support this project.

Artificial Intelligence in Call Processing: SCR911 currently uses an artificial intelligence (AI)-supported program, CommsCoach, to review telephone calls and evaluate dispatcher call-taking against agency-defined standards. A Quality Improvement/Quality Assurance (QI/QA) analyst reviews a sample of AI-generated evaluations before results are shared with staff to ensure accuracy and consistency. SCR911 is an early adopter of this technology and currently pays approximately $10,000 annually for CommsCoach. SCR911 is exploring the use of an AI call-handling solution to manage non-emergency calls for service. Estimated costs for these systems range from $50,000 to $150,000 annually.

Text-to-911 Demand Growth: While total call volume decreases slightly by 2.68 percent compared to the prior year, the number of text messages received in 2025 reaches 542, representing a 74.84 percent increase. This shift in service demand reflects changing communication preferences and may require adjustments to training and technology to ensure timely and effective response.