By Kenneth C. Crowe II
The Times Union (Albany, New York)
Copyright 2007 The Hearst Corporation
All Rights Reserved
TROY, N.Y. — The city has not paid Rensselaer County to dispatch its police and fire departments in 14 months, forcing the county to tell Troy it will end the communications service unless there’s a new contract.
Police, fire and ambulance calls in Troy account for nearly half the county dispatch center’s activity, according to county statistics. The city paid $285,000 annually to the county under a 10-year contract for dispatch services that expired on Dec. 31, 2005.
The costs for the public safety service should be the main topic when county and city officials sit down this week to negotiate a new deal. Both governments have heard from their constituents that they don’t want higher property taxes. Both leaders want funds to pay for the services they provide.
“If the city continues to not pay for this service, this is a cost I would have to pass on to the property taxpayers. They have made it pretty clear they want less taxes, not more taxes,” County Executive Kathy Jimino said.
Please see 911 B3 Mayor Harry Tutunjian said he’s just looking out for his taxpayers who are paying both county and city property taxes. He said the city has money for the county dispatch services set aside in its 2006 and 2007 budgets.
“Certainly the residents of Troy pay a lot in county taxes and do not receive the amount of services that residents in the county do,” Tutunjian said. “We are ready to negotiate a successor agreement for 2007.”
Jimino said previous efforts to get a new contract with the city have been fruitless. She said that since a meeting in September 2006, there had been no response from the city.
Jimino wrote Tutunjian on Feb. 9 telling him it appeared the city did not want to continue the county dispatching service and her staff would begin planning for the city to assume its own dispatching on Jan. 1, 2008. Instead, they will resume negotiations this week.
The county budgeted $2,965,505 to operate its dispatch center in 2007. The $285,000 paid by Troy under the expired contract accounts for less than 10 percent of the dispatch center budget.
Tutunjian said times are different than when the contract with the county was signed. “They assumed this role from the city in 1995. Now, 10 or 11 years later we want to take a closer look in what our residents are paying in surcharges,” Tutunjian said. “The entire landscape has changed.”
The city provides services to the county for which it is not compensated, Tutunjian said, like the transportation of prisoners between City Court and the county jail; the city Fire Department’s role as the county’s hazardous materials response unit; and providing services to county offices.
Tutunjian expects the city and county to continue the dispatching contract. “I’m hopeful we will be able to reach a mutually beneficial agreement,” the mayor said.
Jimino said the city is getting a good deal: “It’s considerably less than what the city would have to pay if the city set up their own dispatch center.
“That’s the beauty of sharing services. That’s what we’re trying to do more of,” Jimino said. “To walk away from this shared service arrangement would seem counterproductive to the idea of reducing the burden on property taxpayers.”