SJC Central Dispatch millage request approved

A request for an additional one-quarter of a mill by St. Joseph County 911 Central Dispatch passed Tuesday.

Unofficial totals reported by the St. Joseph County Clerk’s Office showed 1,364 votes in favor of the seven-year request and 1,323 opposed, with all 20 precincts reporting.

The request will bump Central Dispatch’s millage rate to an even 1 mill.

Agency director Dennis Brandenburg said the additional funds will allow Central Dispatch to replace all radio equipment at its Centreville headquarters, replace all mobile radios in police and fire units, and every sworn police officer and active member of a fire department will get a new radio.

Also, it will allow for the construction of a new communications tower at the St. Joseph County Conservation Club on Featherstone Road.

The central dispatch radio equipment and mobile radios will be acquired through a lease-to-own option over a seven-year period.