It’s always there when you need it. “911, what’s your emergency?” But there could be a day in the not too distant future when the call to 911 doesn’t connect.

“That’s the heart of the operation,” said Curtis Creekmur, Walker County Emergency Management Director. “They communicate between all agencies, all departments, and their response to the emergency. If they can’t talk, then nobody else can talk. They put the puzzle together.”

The county purchased the communications system that powers 911 operations in Walker County 17 years ago… but in just five short years, the technology will reach its end of life. Creekmur says “Walker County 911 has to be upgraded by 2030. We have to have equipment upgrades in the radio infrastructure to be able to stay ahead of the game, to be able to support emergency services throughout Walker County as a whole.”

The 2026 SPLOST would invest three-million dollars in the infrastructure upgrades needed to meet that 2030 deadline and keep emergency services connected.

“If we’re unable to do the upgrades…. you will have a degrade of communications throughout the county, where we’re unable to communicate between departments, between other counties. We will not be able to communicate, and that’s a that’s a hard stop. We will we won’t be able to perform our responsibilities,” Creekmur added.

Upgrades need to get underway in 2027 in order to meet the 2030 deadline and avoid any potential service disruptions. Voters will have the chance to weigh-in on whether to fund this program, and others, when they head to the polls November 4th.