Airwave contracts will bankrupt Hinds E911 fund in 18 months

A spreadsheet obtained by Jackson Jambalaya shows the E911 fund for Hinds County will run out of money in March 2014 if contracts with Airwave LLC are not terminated in October when it is legal for the county to do so. E911 funds are collected through taxes on telephone service and are used to purchase radios, computers, and other telecommunications equipment used for 911 services. It is a major source of funding for such purchases by county and municipal law enforcement and first responders.

The fund will run out of money as payments to Airwave drain the account. Link to Airwave contract. Fee schedule on p.18. Airwave has two contracts with Hinds County for maintenance of the radio towers and another one for site maintenance. The contract for the radio towers pays Airwave $64,169 per month ($192,507 per quarter). The monthly payments escalate to $67,075 ($201,225 per quarter) in November and $70,429 ($211,287 per quarter) in November 2013. The contract expires in October 2014. The county pays $30,511 quarterly for site maintenance. The contract continues through 2017.

Unfortunately for fire and police departments in Hinds County, the fund runs out of money in March 2014 as the payments force the E911 fund into a deficit. The county make an annual $723,500 to Motorola for the lease/purchase of equipment for the Jackson radio system. The agreement placed integrated the Jackson radio system into the Hinds system. the county provided the equipment for the Hinds system to Jackson in exchange for the transfer of the system from Maycom to Motorola.

The fund enjoys a balance over $1 million until the next Jackson payment is made in March 2013. The fund plunges to a little over $400,000 and stays below $500,000 until the March 2014 payment is made. The fund then falls to a deficit of over $300,000. It climbs to a surplus of over $12,000 (Yes, that is thousand, not million) when the 2015 Jackson payment is made when it plummets to a deficit of $666,316.

Page 2 of the spreadsheet shows the cash flow of the E911 fund if the Airwave contract is terminated in October. The fund continues to enjoy a balance over $1 million even after the annual Jackson payments are made. The fund climbs to nearly $2 million as the year progresses before the $723,500 is paid to Motorola each year. Keep in mind the charts assume a constant monthly revenue stream of $245,000 and no equipment purchases for county and municipal 911 services.

Note: It is also important to remember the county uses the fund as a revolving credit card of sorts each year as it borrows against the fund to pay other bills from the county. The money is repaid in the following late winter when property taxes are paid.  Below is a list of the loans made against the fund by the county:

2011: $2.035 million

November 15, 2010: $2,000,000 loan
November 2, 2010: $400,00 loan
October 18, 2010: $650,000 loan
March 1, 2010: $2,300,000 repayment
February 1, 2010: $15,000 repayment

November 16, 2009: $235,000 loan
October 19, 2009: $2,700,000 loan
September 30, 2009: $1,550,000 repayment
August 31, 2009: $750,000 loan
July 20, 2009: $1,500,000 loan
March 2, 2009: $2,900,000 repayment
January 5, 2009: $500,000 loan

December 15, 2008: $600,000 loan
November 17, 2008: $2,500,000 loan
February 19, 2008: $2,220,000 repayment

December 17, 2007: $2,220,000 loan
October 15, 2007: $1,095 loan
February 20, 2007: $3,655,000 repayment
February 5, 2007: $155,000 loan
January 2, 2007: $730,000 loan

December 18, 2006: $2,300,000 loan
December 4, 2006: $700,000 loan
February 21, 2006: $2,560,000 repayment
February 6, 2006: $550,000 repayment
January 3, 2006: $550,000 loan


Synopsis of Airwave : Airwave is owned by Stacy Stowers. Airwave has been the subject of some controversy after WLBT, the Northside Sun, and this website reported on the cozy deals Airwave has with Hinds County. Airwave obtained the following contracts:
*Contract to maintain weather sirens even though the sirens are brand new and covered by a five-year warranty. JJ estimates the payments for the siren contracts are $149,194.

*Contract to maintain professional services for the emergency communications system. The contract price is $122,000 per year to maintain six tower sites.

*Maintenance contract for the 800 Mhz radio system. $4 million contract for six years. Year one: $374,860 ($93,715 per quarter), Year two: $521,885 ($130,463 per quarter), Year three: $736,918 ($184,229 per quarter), Year four: $770,035 ($192,508 per quarter), Year five: $804,908 ($201,227 per quarter), Year six: $845,153 ($211,288 per quarter) Two of the contracts were awarded in 2008 even though Airwave LLC did not exist as a company until 2009.
Related posts Hinds BOS refuse to terminate Airwave contract and bid out services, Hinds awards multi-million dollar contract to non-existent company, , Hinds paid $2.2 million to Airwave, Hinds county did not advertise for bids for Airwave contracts