COLERAIN TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- In Hamilton County, villages and townships face a fee of $14 every time the county dispatches a 911 call to their area.
To balance the 2010 budget, county commissioners are considering a proposal by the administrator to increase the 911 fee by about a $1.25.
On Monday, Greenhills Vice Mayor Fred Murrell expressed his concern at the final public hearing held in Colerain Township.
"For a fire service that has 500, 450 runs a year, it starts getting into a significant fraction of our budget," said Murrell.
Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune is trying to find another way, so the smaller departments don't have to absorb the added costs.
"How each individual city or village or township deals with it is up to them, but I know it’s going to be dealt with one way or another – and what's that is going to mean is the loss of police or fire out there in the field," said Portune.
Greenhills Fire Chief Tony Spaeth says he's happy with the current Hamilton County Dispatch, but worries about the added costs.
"From our perspective, we are not paying our people, but we have to watch our pennies. So, it does cause us not to be able to do something else potentially in the future," said Chief Spaeth.
County commissioners are scheduled to vote on the 2010 budget this Wednesday.
