Sec. 1. 30-A MRSA §453, first, 3rd and 4th ¶¶, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. A, §2 and Pt. C, §106; and amended by PL 1989, c. 6; c. 9, §2; c. 104, Pt. C, §§8 and 10, are further amended to read:

Each county may establish a communications center, separate from any communications function of the sheriff's department and capable of serving the communication needs of the county and the municipalities which that may wish to use the center. If the center is available for use by any municipality in the county that chooses to use it, the center may be funded through the county tax for which municipalities are assessed pursuant to section 706, even if one or more municipalities in the county elect not to use the center.

The county communications center shall provide communication services for the sheriff's department, county civil emergency services, county or municipal rescue or ambulance services, county or municipal fire departments or municipal police departments, including specific communications for municipal law enforcement functions and the dispatching of municipal units.

The county commissioners, after consulting with the director or chief dispatcher, may also enter into an agreement with a municipality, within or outside the county, under section 107 to provide specific communications for municipal law enforcement functions, including dispatching of municipal units, that municipality with any of the communications services offered by the county's communications center in return for payment for these services.

Sec. 2. Application. The provisions of this Act apply to county budgets for fiscal years beginning on or after January 1, 2005.

SUMMARY

This bill clarifies that a county communications center may be funded through the county tax if the center is available for use by any municipality in the county that chooses to use it, even if one or more municipalities in the county elect not to use the center. It also allows the county commissioners to enter into an agreement with a municipality, whether or not located in the county, to provide that municipality with any of the communications services offered by the county's communications center in return for payment for these services.