Plan will save taxpayers money
By:The Manville News
Who can argue with the prospect of saving a few thousand dollars? We can’t.
The Borough Council and Somerset County are awaiting state approval on an arrangement that will have just that effect on the borough. After discussions among themselves and with the county, council members decided recently to have Somerset County take responsibility for Manville’s 911 calls.
Good idea.
911 is the well-known emergency number used throughout the country. Currently, residents in need of police, fire or emergency medical assistance who dial those three numbers get a Manville police sergeant on the line. Under the arrangement the county and borough have reached, callers instead would connect with a 911 operator in Somerville. Manville would be the 12th municipality in Somerset County to adopt such an arrangement.
Savings to the taxpayer are decent. While Manville has had its own system in place, taxpayers have had to foot a yearly $2,500 bill just to maintain the system, plus the annual expense of training officers and other costs related to the system. Since the county doesn’t charge municipalities for using its 911 service, that means the Borough Council either can spend that money on another project or, better yet, cut the municipal budget by that amount.
The only downside we see to this arrangement is the potential for a lag in response time as county 911 operators contend with adding another municipality to their domain. Although LeRoy Gunzelman III, county director of emergency management, has said there will be no change in response time — county operators simply would relay the message to the appropriate emergency personnel in Manville — there always remains the chance for human error, especially when those humans cover as large an area as that covered by Somerset County’s 911 system.
As long as that risk that can be minimized — it never can be eliminated totally — we believe the arrangement is a good one for Manville, and we urge the Borough Council to find more areas to reduce or eliminate expenses through consolidation of services.