SPRINGFIELD -- Longer hold times for emergency calls -- it's a scary scenario that dispatchers at the Springfield/Greene County 911 Center say they face every day. They hope letting the public know about the problem will convince voters that the proposed 911 tax is desperately needed.

More and more often, says J.R. Webb, assistant director of the 911 Center, emergency call takers find it necessary to put callers on hold.

"We've got 10 lines and four to five call takers to answer those lines. It's not unusual for all to be lit up at once," said Webb.

During two recent hours that a KY3 reporter spent at the 911 center, dispatchers had to put four callers on hold. It happens so often that they've even had to work out a triage system where they get basic information and find out if the caller can wait before they put them on hold. Webb says that system only works after the dispatcher actually picks up the call, which has also become a challenge.

Dispatchers have a goal to answer 90 percent of calls within 10 seconds during peak hours. So far this year, their average, including both peak and off peak hours, is 89 percent.

"As the volume of calls go up, with the number of people we have, we can't reach those goals," said Webb.

In a business where every second counts, Webb worries someone may have to wait too long one day.

"It'll only get worse if we don't get more staff," he said.

Voters will decide Tuesday whether to raise the Greene County sales tax by one-eighth percent to, in part, pay for more operators at the 911 center. The tax would replace the 10-percent surcharge on landlines that currently funds the service.