By By Lynette Wilson / staff writer
Oct. 22, 2002
People who receive traffic tickets from Lauderdale County sheriff's deputies will pay a $10 surcharge beginning Nov. 1, with the money raised used to fund a new 911 radio tower.
Lauderdale County supervisors voted 4-1 Monday to add the surcharge to traffic tickets.
But District 5 Supervisor Ray Boswell disagreed. Boswell, the only supervisor who opposed the $10 surcharge, said he couldn't support it because it is another burden on taxpayers.
Florey said 25 percent of the traffic tickets issued by the sheriff's department are to drivers who reside outside the county.
A new wireless communications tower would allow all county ambulance, fire and law enforcement agencies to communicate on the same frequency.
The cost to build the tower is estimated at $140,000. Based on data from the sheriff's department, the surcharge could raise more than $30,000 a year.
The Mississippi Department of Public Safety will collect the new $10 surcharge. The department would keep a 1 percent handling fee and return the rest to Lauderdale County.
In other business, supervisors voted unanimously to start accepting bids to build a new 911 tower.