It is once again time for the cities and county to exchange bills for public services paid for with taxpayer dollars. Back in the lat 1990's dispatch services for Canyon County and Caldwell were combined to save the taxpayers money when Caldwell built the new police building. It was a great idea and clear demonstration of cooperation between Sheriff George Nourse and Caldwell Chief of Police Bob Sobba. Caldwell handed over all the 911 fees attached to phone lines and cell phones to the Sheriff. Now we have the county handing a bill over to the city of Caldwell for $475k to pay for dispatch services. Meanwhile the Commissioners are looking at pay raises for county employees to be paid for with taxpayer dollars.
Nampa is out there all alone with their own dispatch services and threatened to sue the county over their fair share of 911 fees generated from telephone lines and cell phones. County officials agreed to let Nampa have $800k in 911 phone fees to stop the law suit threats over this revenue stream. Nampa has assumed a very circumspect attitude toward the County over the years and combining services of any kind for any reason is not well received based on perceived poor treatment in the past. (They withdrew from the Animal Control program due to the bills they refused to pay generated by the County Sheriff as just one example.)
The reality is taxpayers only need to fund one dispatch center for the entire county and cities. It would save taxpayers a wad of cash if cooler heads and logic prevailed. Case in point...Idaho State Police are dispatched statewide from their Meridian, Idaho headquarters. Yup...every ISP car gets dispatched from Meridian. Pretty slick deal and it saves taxpayers a bundle. THE GUARDIAN would like to know why we need more than one dispatch center for all of Canyon County?
It seems unreasonable for the Sheriff to bill the City of Caldwell for dispatch services given all the cash handed over to the Sheriff via the 911 fees that are generated from Caldwell phone lines and cell phones. Canyon County dispatch center is a "sunk cost" and will cost the Sheriff and County more if Caldwell bails out on the current partnership. In the event the Sheriff and Caldwell can't work it out, it makes more sense for Caldwell to partner with Nampa for dispatch services. Caldwell and Nampa combine resources with a Metro dispatch plan and leave the County and small town dispatching to the Sheriff.
Nobody seems to be looking out for the taxpayers who ultimately pay the bills for this service. If ISP can dispatch statewide from Meridian, then why can't taxpayers get a break from the Sheriff on this deal. It just seems ridiculous with this bickering and billing letters going back and forth between the County and Caldwell.
Amen Paul. All Police services and dispatch should be metro in this county. Enough of the waste! By the way. nice article in the tribune about the national debt.
ReplyDeleteYour right. The commissioners should adequately fund the dispatch center from property taxes they have collected. They should not be billing the cities. But Nampa city should also not have it's own dispatch center and be billing me in my city taxes for it. There is no reason for them to collect the 911 funds either which short changes the main dispatch center at the county. This is all about power and control between the chief of Nampa which is the largest city in Canyon County and the constitutionally elected Sheriff. This pissing match that started under George Nourse and has been perpetuated through today needs to stop and they need to combine into one center. Maybe all Emergency services should be dispatched by an organization not affiliated with any one organization. We formed an ambulance district, why not an emergency services communications district?
ReplyDeleteThis current fiasco started with our inept and incompetent Commissioners who cut too much from the dispatch budget and tried to pass the buck onto the cities. These morons have no idea how to manage a budget. First they overcut, but then offer pay raises to employees and build an expensive, un-needed and unwanted time capsule and gazebo project in the courthouse. I can't wait. Just over a year and counting. Some new blood is coming. Anyone have any recommendations for who should run for Sheriff or Commissioners?
ReplyDeleteBECAUSE TOM DALE WANTS IT THAT WAY!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe real beauty of this recession is the fact tough economic times ar shining a glaring spotlight on waste, fraud, abuse and duplication of government services. The days of "I want one too" have got to stop. The words government and efficiency need to be used in the same sentence and context. If ISP can dispatch from a single dispatch center to every car in the state, then why can't one dispatch center work for this entire valley?
ReplyDeleteThere is a very good article on the "Curley Effect" and how high property taxes ruin our cities. Check out the Wall Street Journal page A-11. The distillation is how elected officials (mayors) toss taxpayer money around on all manner of wasteful spending to influence voters to reelect incumbents. Eventually, the waste, fraud and abuse, become a catalyst for the middle class flight from cities and precipitate urban decay via the irresponsible redistribution of taxpayer dollars on poorly planned and thought out projects and patronage.
ReplyDeletevery interesting Paul !! I never gave this any thought but it certainly fits the model of a lot of cities in this country. I can see where the Curley effect would be very advantageous to someone wanting to stay in power. Like what would Nancoas do if he were not the Mayor of Caldwell ??? Where in this county could he find a job that would give him everything he is getting now.? I don't think Nancolas is actually smart enough to figure out the Curley effect . But the point is there are some politicians out there who are and all of them want to stay in power.
ReplyDeleteNampa city chose to have it's own center when everyone else combined under the Sheriff's Office.
ReplyDeleteWhy does Boise Jr. want it's own center. They sure don't need it. Tom wants to usurp the other politicos in Canyon County and become emperor that's why. Just think when we all contract with his overpaid police force and dispatching center as he sits upon his newer more modern throne in his multi story behemoth.
Not only should everyone be dispatched by one dispatching center under the state, but there should be one State Police force. Lets get rid of all these wasteful police departments and sheriff's departments. Then we would have policeman paid for by our state income taxes and not based off property taxes where business and property owners solely bear the burden of cost.
ReplyDeleteWhat I would like to know is when does the endless upgrading of dispatch equipment stop or at least take a breather for a few years. The telephone line tax on each line and phone is and has generated tens of millions over the years. These various agencies no sooner get done with one complete system upgrade (or massive failure of upgrading) and they start all over again. When do we reach that finite point of diminishing returns on money spent on all of this equipment?
ReplyDeleteAt some point in time there has to be some adult interference with all of this repeated spending for what? If somebody out there knows...help me understand.
Technology changes, Feds impose new regs. Any questions?
ReplyDeleteAgain I ask, Why stop with dispatch services? Why does the great state of Nampa need it's own force?
ReplyDeleteStop the waste and combine all of it into one police force. Make the city's stop taxing us for police and make that taxed at the county level. The enormous wage gap between the county and the Nampa Police force is incentive enough.
Why not a unified metropolitan police department?
And while we are at it, Why not a city manager / county manager form of government?
STOP WASTING OUR MONEY!
There seems to be a common theme here.
ReplyDeleteUnification of emergency services in Canyon County seems to be the catch phrase of the day.
Whether it be at the city, county or state level, taxpayers are demanding accountability and are tired of individual and wasteful empires built by politicos afraid to give up their power.
It's an absolute shame it takes an economic crash for this nation to come to it's senses and see what the rest of us have known all along.
I agree a "Metropolitan style" combined police force makes economic sense. Now how do we make it happen?
Why change something that is working. You people have no clue.
ReplyDeleteThe concern is how our tax dollars are wasted.Take a drive by the Nampa police station . You will see at least 12 to 15 police vehicles sitting in the parking lot any time of the day or night. If we need them why are they not in use once in a while. Then there is the whole mess concerning the new police station( Taj Ma Dale) and clearing of the block now occupied by the police station etc. Why is every Canyon county Patrol deputy issued a car for his exclusive use . Couldn't we save alot of money by sharing these vehicles between shifts rather than haveing 1/2 of them sitting unused at any given time. The most recent colossal waste of money in Nampa is the $205,000 we are spending on 2 crosswalks on Garrity and 16th AV. N . I guess they will go nicely with the one on 11th AV. that cost $178,000.It seems odd that most of the people in town can cross a street with 2 lines painted on the street but in that area its not possible.
ReplyDeleteThe more sensible, logical place to put a crosswalk would have been on 12th Ave S between Lake Lowell and 7th St S. A stop light is also needed in that area.
ReplyDeleteA single county wide dispatch ran by the sheriff works for the 4 odd police agencies, county wide EMS, 5 odd Fire Departments, and god knows what else over in Ada County , no reason it couldn't work here, especially when you have multipel agencies working the same incident. God knows when you have multiple people (i.e. dispatch agencies) in the communication chain, the greater the chance of a screw up.
ReplyDeleteWhat was it said about communication being the mother of all screw ups?
Agreed on all points but one. Issued cars. It's been proven time and time again. You will spend less money than you do when you share cars . Hot seating cars leads to increased maintenance bills and a fleet that wears out twice as fast. Don't know about fleet management at Nampa city but I do know the fleet manager at the county has got his stuff together. Gotta give em kudos for that.
ReplyDeleteHard costs for cars is just over $3,300 per year per car. Gas is added on top of that. If you hot seat the cars cost of ownership creeps up over $9,000 per year per car.
Something that hasn't been mentioned. Police, public safety, and others are also training for counterinsurgency, and counterterrorism operations. Lots of changes going on. That new police station in Nampa is high tech, and state of the art.
ReplyDeleteG.A. says...
ReplyDeleteCounter insurgency in Caldwell or Nampa, wow, what a flight of the imagination. The "state of the art facility" will be obsolete before the paint dries.
At some point in time when taxpayers are completely broke, cities will have to make do with "pretty good" for all their toys and trinkets.
A police station that is high tech and state of the art indeed.Need I mention also un-needed, a waste of tax dollars, no voter oversight or approval, and raising my taxes unnecessarily.
ReplyDeleteJust what I always wanted. Thank you.