By Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster
The Naples Daily News
NAPLES, Fla. — It likely won’t happen but now Naples City Council members know how much consolidation of 911 call centers would have saved them.
Naples Police Chief Tom Weschler last week outlined a report about the potential savings surrounding consolidating its 911 communications call center with the Collier County Sheriff’s Office center.
The report came out months after the city first broached the topic of consolidation as a cost-savings matter.
But Naples council on Dec. 14 learned those savings might not be as substantial as they had hoped.
The city’s police and fire communications center has an operating budget of $1.098 million, according to a Dec. 14 report by Weschler. That budget includes the salaries of a communications manager, supervisors and dispatchers.
Weschler said in the report the Sheriff’s Office could provide service to the city of Naples for $1.048 million in the first year.
That’s a savings of about $50,000.
City officials had initially thought a consolidation of call centers would save upwards of $500,000, said City Manager Bill Moss.
“I was a bit puzzled,” said Councilman Gary Price. “What surprised me is there wasn’t more of a difference between the cost of the sheriff (and the current cost).”
Price said he was surprised because while city residents pay city taxes, they also pay county taxes, much of which goes to the Sheriff’s Office.
“I thought there would be some economy (in it),” he said.
The cost estimate given did not include costs associated with system modifications, equipment programming or any new equipment, Greg Smith, the office’s chief of administration, said in a Nov. 25 letter to Moss.
Smith called those costs significant in “what currently exists as an uncertain climate related to governmental funding.”
“My personal feeling is if there’s no significant savings based on the numbers, then it isn’t something that makes a lot of sense,” Price said.
Even with a substantial savings, though, consolidation of the call centers may not have made good sense.
Weschler said the city’s call center serves as a backup system for the county’s and vice versa. That means if the city’s emergency operators receive an influx of calls, county dispatchers would be able to send first responders to the call.
That backup system also comes into play if something happens - like a power surge - that knocks out 911 service at either the city or county’s center.
“There’s the redundancy factor,” Weschler said. “If there was just one center, then there’s no 911 service until (the Sheriff’s Office) restores service. One picks up the slack for the other.”
Smith also called the city’s call center “a vital link in maintaining emergency readiness within Collier County.”
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