Island County’s 911 provider is charging every municipality it serves to recoup $300,000 it paid for several construction projects.

I-COM is looking to local police departments, EMS and fire departments to pay off loans that funded construction of a new tower on South Whidbey Island and remodeling of its Oak Harbor location. Even though the one-time fee is a hit for cash-strapped municipalities, they will ultimately see savings by avoiding interest payments.

Coupeville Town Council members want more information before they considering paying their share of the loan.

Town Councilwoman Molly Hughes said during a recent meeting she wants officials from I-COM to visit the town council and make a presentation about why the money is needed. The town has to pay $11,402 to I-COM for its share of the loan. Mayor Nancy Conard said the town has enough resources in its budget to pay the bill.

I-COM wants to pay off $140,000 remaining on the tower project and the $160,000 cost of the expansion. There is an additional $100,000 that is worked into the one-time fee that will go toward I-COM’s $2.3 million operating budget.

The $300,000 bill is being divvied up between law enforcement agencies, fire departments and Whidbey General Hospital based on the percentage of calls. Larger agencies have to pay a larger share. For example, the Island County Sheriff’s Office paid $172,000 while the Oak Harbor Police Department had paid $100,000.

I-COM Director Tom Shaughnessy said the agency took out a loan from Whidbey Island Bank to pay for the projects. Later it was determined, after working with budget directors from Oak Harbor and Island County, that it was more affordable to pay off the loan and avoid paying the interest.

“All of them could save quite a bit of money over the duration of the loan,” Shaughnessy said of the larger agencies’ share.

If I-COM hadn’t asked for the charge, he said, then the capital projects would have been paid through fees charged to the jurisdictions that use I-COM. He said Coupeville and Langley are the only municipalities that haven’t paid their share of the loan. Langley owes $4,799.

The new tower on the south end of Whidbey Island was replaced about five years ago. Shaughnessy said the old tower, which was constructed in 1967, needed expensive repairs and staff found it was better to replace the tower, which provides emergency service coverage for South Whidbey Island.

The renovation of the 13-year-old, I-COM building took place last year. The project called for update the facilities technology and expanding the work space from six stations to eight.

Shaughnessy said both projects came in at the budget.