Tuesday, May 09, 2000
County: Cities ought to pay more dispatch costs
By Terry Flynn
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT — Mayors and government officials of most of Campbell County's cities will receive a rude awakening this morningwhen the county calls upon its cities to up the ante in paying for the countywide dispatch center.
During a Monday meeting to discuss the proposed county budget, Campbell Fiscal Court members discussed the need to obtain more revenue from the cities that share emergency dispatch services.
“The original agreement between the county and the cities was for a 50-50 split of expenses,” Campbell County Judge-executive Steve Pendery said. “But our figures show that the cities are only paying about 16 percent of the costs, with the county paying the rest.”
Mr. Pendery said he would discuss the dispatching fees at today's meeting with the mayors and other city officials.
The county is working with the cities of Fort Thomas and Newport, both with their own dispatch services, on a plan that would consolidate police and fire dispatch for the entire county.
But Mr. Pendery pointed out that under the best of circumstances, consolidation of dispatch services is at least a year away.
“We have to start raising the amount the cities pay now,” he said. “If consolidation happens, all that would change. Until then, we must develop a plan to gradually raise the amount the cities are paying.”
County fiscal officer Dennis Geiger told county commissioners that the county had not sought fee increases for a number of years. “The cities have paid what has been asked of them,” Mr. Geiger said. “We haven't asked for the full amount.”
The cities probably will be asked to increase their payments by 25 percent when the fees come due July 1, and additional increases will take place over the following two years to reach the required 50 percent.
Cities that are part of the county dispatch service are Southgate, Wilder, Highland Heights, Cold Spring, Alexandria, Bellevue, Dayton, Silver Grove and Melbourne.
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