County and city agree to new dispatch contract, but dispute arises over payments for rest of FY 2019

Washington County commissioners plan to pursue an unpaid bill they said the city owes for emergency dispatch services for the month of July.
 Commissioners said on Monday that the city was billed $9,400 for dispatch services for July and only paid $2,600. The partial payment included a notice stating that the city did not plan to pay the balance.
 Commissioners said they will continue to bill the city for the unpaid balance for 60 days and 90 days. The county also will request that the city provide budget records that show revenues and expenses and available cash to date for FY 2019 for officials to review.
 The contract for dispatch services has been the subject of discussions since the city in April said it wanted to cancel the existing agreement and negotiate a new one for FY 2020. The current contract expires at the end of the current fiscal year on Sept. 30.
 “They notified us earlier that they were not going to renew that contract, but they are still under the contract,” commissioner Kirk Chandler said.
 Chandler said the city budgeted even less money this fiscal year than the previous year for dispatch services.
 The city did pay the bill from the county in June and has yet to be billed for 911 emergency dispatch services for the months of August and September.
 Sheriff Matt Thomas said regardless of what is owed to the county, his department will  do “the right thing” and continue to provide emergency dispatch services for the Weiser Police Department.
 The city and county recently agreed to a new contract for 911 dispatch services for FY 2020 just prior to the budget deadlines for both local governments. The county agreed to the city’s offer of $110,000 for dispatch services after months of negotiations and offers and counteroffers.
 In July, members of the Weiser City Council declined to pay the county what they said was a 28 percent hike in the fee-for-service payment of $115,000, plus a 3 percent annual increase, which was the offer by the county for dispatch services.
 City leaders told the city attorney to make another counteroffer to the county of $110,000 with a 3 percent annual increase. Commissioners agreed to that amount for FY 2020 earlier in August.
 The negotiations started months ago, following a vote by the Weiser City Council in April to cancel the existing contract with Washington County for 911 dispatch services and start over on a new agreement.
 Both parties agreed at the time that the 1992 agreement between the city and county for dispatch services provided by the sheriff’s office would be in place until the end of September.
 City officials said they wanted out of the old contract becauase it was tied to salaries paid to 911 dispatchers. When the sheriff’s office implemented a new wage schedule last year, it bumped up the city’s share of the dispatch costs by an amount that was not budgeted, city officials said.
 City officials said the fee hike by the county for dispatch caught them by surprise and came after the FY 2019 budget was set.
 At the time the sheriff said he could absorb the additional costs for the rest of FY 2019, but commissioners, who hold the pursestrings, want the county to get paid.
 The new contract for dispatch services will provide for a fee-for-services arrangement, plus an annual increase to cover costs incurred by the sheriff’s office related to emergency communications.  
 With the language in the new contract, city officials said they will know what the payment will be for the next fiscal year and can budget for it.
 The county sheriff bills the city on a monthly basis for dispatch personnel salary costs. The city is billed for half of the dispatch salaries based on actual hours worked.
 More than half of the calls for service that come through dispatch are WPD calls, county officials previously said.