911 Program

NG911 GIS Grant Funding Standards-FY2026 - July 1, 2025

34A.7A: The program manager may also provide grants to joint 911 service boards and the department of public safety for the purpose of developing and maintaining GIS data to be used in support of the next generation 911 network. The program manager shall provide guidelines, application forms, and notice of the availability of such grants on the department’s internet site.

Guidance

NG911 GIS Grants as detailed in Iowa Code 34A.7A are a part of 911 Surcharge. Therefore, they do need to be used in accordance with Iowa Code 34A and Administrative Rule Section 605 Chapter 10. The criteria for spending 911 Surcharge funds is "receipt and disposition of the 911 call." Per 34A.2, Personnel Costs are generally not an eligible use of 911 Surcharge. However, there are exceptions for individuals conducting the activities of addressing, database management, and GIS. 911 Surcharge and the NG911 GIS Grants, must be used specifically for the purposes of 911, and not GIS programs and projects that do not relate to the "Receipt and Disposition of the 911 call"

We highly encourage the reinvestment of NG911 GIS Grant related projects and programs, however, there is no requirement to use GIS Grant funding specifically towards NG911 GIS projects. There are also no restrictions or preference between utilizing a contractor or dedicated GIS staff within the County.

Structure

For FY 2026 GIS data accuracy will be measured against four categories for qualifications of GIS grant funding.

1. NG911 GIS Data Accuracy
2. ALI Standardization
3. Zero Critical Errors
4. Monthly Uploads

Maximum grant funding remains at $12,000 for the year per PSAP, or $1,000 per month per PSAP.

Data uploads will be reimbursed four times during the year. $1,000 per month will be awarded for all four criteria being met. If all criteria is met every month of the quarter, 911 Service Boards will receive $3,000 for the period. If a county is unable to meet the benchmarks during a particular month, they are still eligible for grant funding during the months that the county does successfully meet the benchmark. (IE, if you fail to meet the benchmarks 1 month of the quarter, you will receive $2,000)

Counties should review the most recent QA/QC report which will give counties an idea of where they currently stand. The updated QA/QC report will be provided monthly. (If your county’s row contains an “N/A” this indicates that GeoComm has not received data sets to run for QA/QC or ALI/MSAG synchronization.)

Please review this information with both your GIS provider and PSAP manager. GeoComm is available to assist each county with guidance on meeting the benchmarks.

Benchmarks

NG911 GIS Data Accuracy
Definition: Submission of all required NG911 GIS Data layers including Road Centerlines, Site/Structure Address Points, PSAP Boundary, Emergency Service Boundaries (Fire, LE, EMS), Provisioning (Authoritative) Boundary, ALI and MSAG that meets the requirements of the IA 911 NGGIS Standard.

Criteria: Overall GIS accuracy at or above 98% and submission of all required data layers.
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ALI Standardization
Definition: The process of standardizing the road names and their elements in the ALI database prior transitioning to NG911 call routing where the GIS road centerline is used to create a GIS based MSAG for call routing.

Additional Information: It is typical for an ALI and MSAG to contain short forms of road names and their elements that do not meet the NG911 standards (e.g. AV – instead of AVE, 1 ST – instead of 1ST ST) each PSAP should focus on standardizing their ALI and MSAG to contain the official street names instead of the short formats. This will require a mass update of the ALI and MSAG through Comtech to insure no wireline 911 calls are alienated and unable to be routed to the appropriate PSAP.
Criteria: ALI Synchronization to GIS Road Centerline accuracy rate of 98% or above.
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Critical Errors
Definition: Critical errors in the GIS data will prevent GIS datasets from being provisioned to the statewide geodatabase for NG911 call routing and to the Comtech ALI 6.0 file.

Additional Information: All errors identified as critical are identified as such in the GIS Data Summary Report under the Analytics tab within GIS Data Hub each time the GIS data undergoes QC. The following are critical errors:

• Acceptable Values in all data layers
• Address Range Overlaps
• Duplicate Values
• Empty Geometry in all data layers
• Features Outside of Polygon (Road Centerlines and Site/Structure Address Points
• Road Centerline features broken a Polygon (PSAP and Provisioning Boundary)
• Globally Unique ID in all data layers
• Multipart Geometry (RCL)
• Null Value in Field in all mandatory fields
• Polygon Compare (Overhangs)
• Polygon overlap check

Criteria: Zero Critical Errors
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Monthly Uploads
Definition: Iowa NG911 GIS data is now a critical component of the Iowa 911 System. Updated GIS information is imperative for correct call routing. In order to incentivize providing updated GIS information, grant dollars will be awarded on a monthly basis.

Criteria: NG911 GIS Data meeting all the above benchmarks, uploaded monthly.
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Future Standardization Effort – Will be added to Critical in a future Grant year
In an effort to ensure standardization of the statewide geodatabase the following warning QC checks will be added:

• Unacceptable Values – added to all NENA Required-Yes fields; the check will identify where there are extra spaces or where a NULL should be present instead of a space
• Acceptable Values – added to the County fields and Discrepancy Agency ID fields; the check will ensure that County is included with the name of the county and that the discrepancy agency ID is consistent throughout the data

March 2017 - Updated November 2023

In Fiscal Year 2016, a fund was established within the 911 operating surplus (Fund 0046, Unit 0006). The governing code of this section reads as follows:

The program manager, in consultation with the 911 communications council, shall allocate an amount, not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars per fiscal year, for the development of public awareness and educational programs related to the use of 911 by the public, educational programs for the personnel responsible for the maintenance, operation, and upgrading of local 911 systems, and the expenses of members of the 911 communications council for travel, monthly meetings, and training, provided, however that the members have not received reimbursement funds for such expenses from another source.

Therefore, it is the joint policy of the HSEMD 911 Program and 911 Communications Council that the use of this fund be considered in the following priority order:

1. Council travel
2. Public education
3. Training

1. The criteria for council travel will follow all DAS and HSEMD policies and procedures.
2. The criteria for public education are as follows:
   Priority of the public education funds will go towards projects with a statewide focus. This includes the establishment and maintenance of a statewide 911 website. Secondary consideration will also be given to public education projects with a regional or multi-county scope.
3. The criteria for training are as follows:

The training session must consist of personnel from multiple PSAPs to the benefit of multiple PSAPs.
The training must be available for open registration and approved by 911 Council and HSEMD in advance of any contractual relationship being established. It is further adopted that “educational programs for the personnel responsible for the maintenance, operation, and upgrading of local 911 systems” specifically not provide funding for initial telecommunicator or mandatory continuing education training, but rather training only be considered for “over the top” training.

Training courses will be limited to two offerings within the same HSEMD district during a fiscal year and will be considered on a first come first serve basis. The same rule applies to requests for EMD funding knowing that there are three different models utilized in Iowa - APCO, Priority Dispatch, and Power Phone. Multiple requests will be approved with discretion and If more training is requested than funds available during a given month, the 911 Council, along with the program manager may prioritize the funding as they see fit.

Training should be planned to accommodate more than 10 participants. Training not meeting the minimum number of registrants (10) should be communicated to the program manager and then rescheduled or the funds released. Agendas and sign-in sheets are required in order to seek reimbursement.

The training must primarily be focused on Iowa-based personnel. Non-Iowa students can be considered if the following criteria are met

1.  The minimum amount of attendees has been met with Iowa students
2. The cost of the course does not increase based on the number of students, or the non-Iowa student pays their own costs
3. If there is a maximum amount of attendees, Iowa students are given a preference.

Beginning with training funds approved for FY 2021 (July 2020), training requests will be approved with a 10% cost share. The hosting agency can determine how to fund the 10%, and can include the agency covering that portion itself, or requiring participants to pay a registration fee. The 10% cost share will not be required for APCO and NENA conferences, or the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy.

All requests must be placed on the 911 Council Agenda, and approved by the Council.

• Lindsey Tazzioli, Iowa Emergency Management Assoc.
  (Polk County Emergency Management)
• Christopher Collins, Iowa Chapter of the National Emergency Number Assoc.  (Iowa Dept. of Public Safety)
• Mike Bryant, Iowa Assoc. of Professional Fire Fighters
  (Ames Fire Department)
• Tom Weibel, Iowa Telephone Assoc. >15,000 customers
  (Lumen Technologies)
• Adam Welp, Iowa Telephone Assoc. <15,000 customers
  (MTC Technologies)
• Robert Dehnert (Vice Chair), Iowa Emergency Medical Services Assoc.
  (West Des Moines Emergency Medical Services)
• Cara Sorrells (Secretary), Iowa Chapter of the Assoc. of Public-Safety Communications Officials (Iowa County Sheriff)
• Jeff Miller, Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
  (Dubuque County)
• LT Josh Duden, Iowa DPS Communications Interoperability Bureau
• John McCormally, Auditor of State, Ex-Officio Member
• Eric Dau, Iowa Firefighters Assoc.
  (Clinton County 911 Director)
• Rob Rotter (Chair), Iowa State Sheriffs and Deputies Assoc.
  (Iowa County Sheriff)
• Joe Sargent, Personal Communications Services companies
  (T-Mobile – West Des Moines)
• Steve Zimmer, Cellular Providers
  (US Cellular)
• Chief Shane McSheehy, Iowa Peace Officers Association
  (Pella Police Department )

Service Provider

• Surcharge Remittance Form (32.26 KB) Archived .pdf
• Attachment A: Invoice Form (167.89 KB) Archived .pdf

Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) and Local Service Board

• Attachment B: Invoice Form (174.25 KB) Archived .pdf
• Attachment D: Change Management Form
• PSAP Contacts/Communications Point-of-Contact Form
• Service Board Membership Form (1.75 MB) Archived .pdf
• Sample Service Board Bylaw Document (54 KB) Archived .doc
• County Service Plan Template (304.5 KB) Archived .doc
• Master PSAP List (301.92 KB) Archived .xlsx

Quarterly Reports

• Latest Quarterly Report

The latest Quarterly PSAP Payments Report is available upon request.

Annual & Biennial Reports

• 911 Annual Report 2025
• 911 Annual Report 2024
• FY 2023/2024 Biennial Report on PSAP Expenditures
• FY 2021/2022 Biennial Report on PSAP Expenditures

Other Reports

• Information Sharing Framework Report (8.23 MB) Archived .pdf
• 2021 Wireline 911 Cost Recovery Report (988.69 KB) Archived .pdf
• 2021-2025 HSEMD 911 Strategic Plan (390.83 KB) Archived .pdf
• State 911 Assessment Report for Iowa (1.88 MB) Archived .pdf

• Iowa 911 Wireless NG911 Plan 2018 (21.52 MB) Archived .pdf
• Iowa Transition to GIS Data Hub Webinar (54.99 MB)
• Iowa NG911 GIS Schema Field Mapping Worksheet (266.47 KB) Archived .xlsx  (Excel)
• Iowa NG911 Standards Document (1.12 MB) Archived .pdf
• Second Series NG911 GIS Standards Webinar (YouTube video)