In the News - Public Safety
Trooper fees mount while towns think
Thursday, July 31, 2008
By Warren Cooper
Towns that don’t have full-time police forces are beginning to get serious about how they’ll react to the idea of paying for heretofore free State Police rural coverage. As of today, many towns owe the state an as-yet-unspecified amount of money for their first month of paid State Police protection, but it is not yet known which towns will be charged nor what the rate will be when the bills come due in 2009. But if a town strikes a deal to share police services by Dec. 15, it won’t have to pay the state.
Mayors Rob Walton of Hampton and Mark Desire of High Bridge met Tuesday night with county Shared Services Coordinator Michael Capobianco to discuss the feasibility of creating a north county multi-municipality force. Mr. Capobianco had invited 13 municipalities from Alexandria east to Tewksbury; he speculated that short notice, rather than a lack of interest, was responsible for the lack of participants.
According to Mr. Capobianco, the charge for State Police coverage makes it “a good time to start discussions on where we are and what the next step could be.” Under his guidance, the Amwells and Lambertville have contracted with Blue Shield Consulting of Long Valley for a shared policing feasibility study similar to the one he proposes for the north county towns. Mr. Capobianco was able to secure a $38,975 state grant to pay for the south county study.
Even as that study proceeds, East Amwell is hedging its bets. See “E. Amwell to Raritan: Got Cops?” on this page.
Mr. Capobianco told the mayors Tuesday that a similar study for the northern county municipalities would cost them nothing. Recent changes in the state’s SHARE (Sharing Available Resources Effectively) program exempts municipalities with populations under 10,000 from the requirement to pay a 10% match for such feasibility studies. Only three Hunterdon municipalities (Raritan, Readington and Clinton townships) have populations greater than that, and none is among the 13 he hopes to convince to join the study.
Mayor Desire said about 30% of High Bridge’s $3 million budget funds its police force. The mayor acknowledged it’s “very expensive,” but, he said, “I can’t imagine the State Police would give the kind of coverage we get from our guys.” Everyone in town loves them, he said. He’d like to see the study address how small municipal forces like High Bridge’s could keep their local flavor as part of a regional police force.
Mayor Walton is mostly satisfied with the coverage the State Police provides Hampton. “If we have an emergency call they respond right away.” Troopers also drive through town on their regular patrols and will set up additional patrols if a particular problem arises, he said, like a stalker at the school. With only 1,600 people in the borough, crime statistics don’t support a full-time local police force, he said.
Although Hampton might not pay for State Police service under the budget, Mayor Walton worries that municipalities that use the troopers will see a reduction in service. “If we start paying for the State Police, do we have any control over them? I want to have some sort of say in patrolling and particular issues and problems.”
Opponents of the new fees argue that State Police rural services were established in 1921 especially to help rural areas. But Gov. Corzine has said it’s only fair that municipalities pay something for law-enforcement services.
Mr. Capobianco said he would again lobby for shared policing feasibility studies at a public meeting he’ll convene a few weeks from now to present the annual Chamber of Commerce shared services report. The date hasn’t been set.
Mr. Capobianco is an employee of the county Chamber of Commerce, which has taken a leadership role in helping local school districts and muncipalities share services.
According to a 2007-08 state Department of Law and Public Safety report, State Police provide full- or part-time policing to 13 of the county’s 26 municipalities. As a small part of his austere state budget, Gov. Corzine proposed in March to raise $20 million by billing municipalities that rely on State Police coverage. When the final budget was passed, the amount had been reduced to $12 million. Municipalities that do not act to enter into a cost-sharing agreement with another municipality by Dec. 15 could be charged for State Police coverage retroactive to July 1.
Local budgets would have to rise to come up with hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for it. The exact figures for each municipality aren’t known yet, but in the spring, when the governor sought to raise $20 million, county municipalities were looking at tabs like $535,920 in East Amwell, $569,250 in Union and $527,340 in Alexandria,
The numbers were generated by multiplying the number of households in the municipality by $330 for full-time coverage and $230 for part-time. The bill in Holland Township, which only uses State Police coverage part-time, would be $446,660 according to the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services, which came up with the estimates.
There’s a chance that municipalities like Hampton, Bethlehem, Milford and Bloomsbury would avoid a bill for State Police services based on their lack of ratables, according to that OLS report.
©2008 Hunterdon County Democrat
© 2008 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.
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