Saline City Council Reacts To Plan to Outsource Police Dispatch

reacted for the first time to news that the to Pittsfield Township.

At Monday’s meeting, Police Chief Paul Bunten told council about preliminary discussions to contract dispatch services to Pittsfield. Bunten said the department spends close to $250,000 a year on dispatch services and that, after one time expenses, the move could save the department over $100,000 annually in salary, benefits and technology costs.

Councilor Glenn Law said he had very strong reservations about the concept.

“I appreciate the comments about this being economically driven, but sometimes, I think you have to say ‘the heck with it,’ and do what I think is the right thing, which is to keep dispatch the way it is, a pure Saline thing,” Law said.

Bunten told council the police budget represents 28 percent of the general fund. He also noted that other departments have experienced staffing cuts over the last several years. City leaders fear tougher budget cuts if the state goes through with plans to repeal the personal property tax.

Mayor Gretchen Driskell said the move is being considered, in part, because Gov. Rick Snyder is requiring local governments to share services to qualify for revenue sharing.

“Lansing is asking us to collaborate more to get the dollars that were promised us when Proposal A was passed,” she said.

The plan will be studied over the next 12 months. The city and township will need to negotiate and iron out policy and procedural issues, as well as train dispatchers about the ins and outs of  Saline. Driskell said that if the process moves forward, she’d  also like for Pittsfield to hire one of Saline’s dispatchers.

Bunten said he would only recommend the move if he believed it could be done without diminishing the service.

Driskell asked Bunten to provide council with monthly updates on the development of the plan.

During a discussion on city staff contracts, Councilor Dean Girbach said he'd like to begin to take a tougher look at staff positions for redundancies for cost savings.

Saline Township resident Kelly Driscoll Saiyacork spoke during public comment, saying the busy Pittsfield department might not have the ability to provide Saline with the kind of service to which it is accustomed. She also said residents of Saline should be happy with the level of service they receive, saying it was much better than the public safety service enjoyed by residents in the outlying townships.

The plan is opposed by the Saline Police Officers Association.