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February 17, 2007 - (Brattleboro Reformer) - "BF police eye plans to bring in revenue" (not on-line) - (Return to News)

BF police eye plans to bring in revenue

By PATRICK J. CROWLEY, Reformer Staff
Brattleboro Reformer

The plans include possibly charging people who are required to take daily breath-alcohol tests. The village would become the first in the state to charge a fee for the court-ordered tests, interim Police Chief John Dunfee said.

At the Village Trustees meeting Tuesday, Dunfee presented the board with five different new policies that he said could mean thousands of dollars in extra revenue to offset the budget shortfalls that have plagued the village over the past few years.

Many of the plans carry some controversy with them.

For a variety of different reasons, Bellows Falls residents who are convicted of certain crimes are required to visit the police station and blow an alcohol-breath test.

Dunfee said at any one time there could be between 15 and 25 of these tests given every day.

Many of these individuals are on fixed incomes, but Dunfee said police departments in other states charge a fee for each test and he recommended to the board that Bellows Falls begin charging for the service.

The trustees discussed charging between $10 and $20 for each test. Municipal Manager John Schempf said he was going to make some calls in the coming weeks to determine what would be a reasonable amount to charge for the tests.

"The law is not clear," Schempf said, "no one says you can, but no ones says you can't."

"This is new ground, I don't think anyone else in Vermont does this," said Dunfee.

Dunfee said some of the people who have to blow the test live in Bellows Falls but were arrested in other towns.

"Some of these are not even my cases," he said.

Dunfee also recommended that the village start charging other municipalities when the village police department is called as a first responder.

According to a proposed contract that Dunfee gave the board, the department would continue to back up other departments, such as the State Police and the Windham County Sheriff's Department, when extra help is needed.

But when one of those departments are unable to make a call, and the village police force is asked to respond to an event, those other towns will be charged $50 per officer per hour, with a two-hour minimum and a 50 cents per mile charge.

Dunfee said if the area towns, such as Westminster, Saxtons River and Rockingham, do not agree to the contract, then the Bellows Falls Police will ignore the call, regardless of the severity of the situation.

The board also considered charging for fingerprints, which are required for schools and some other jobs, and making non-village residents pay $15 for vehicle inspections.

Also, if the trustees adopt the policies at their next meeting, any time a police office responds to a false alarm caused by mechanical or human error, a fine will be assessed to the business owner.

Businesses will be allowed one false alarm per quarter, and will then be charged $25. Succeeding false alarms will be charged an additional $5.

If the fines are not paid, then the police department will not react the next time the alarm goes off.

Trustee and former Police Chief Gary DeRosia said he supported the charge.

"Tell me why this is our problem," DeRosia said about charging other communities when the contracted law enforcement agency is unable to make a call. "If they can't respond, then the towns have to answer to their residents and dtermine why."

The Village Trustees heard about the new plans at their meeting Tuesday and the trustees will vote on each plan at their next meeting.

The discussion about the new police charges came after the board unanimously voted to slash police coverage by 25 percent to try to control a deficit in the current fiscal year. The trustees are also trying to put together a 2008 budget that does not significanly raise the taxes for the village residents.

Dunfee said the ideas might be a way to bring some much need revenue into the police department, which costs more than $800,000 and makes up more than half of the village budget.

"A Couple of thousand dollars here and there are not going to balance the budget, but it can all help," Schempf said.

"We have to decide that the free ride is over," Bellows Falls resident Judy Lidie said about the proposals.

Howard Weiss-Tisman can be reached at hwtisman@reformer.com or (802) 254-2311 ext. 279.