The City of Richfield is exploring the possibility of having Hennepin County provide Police and Fire dispatching services to the City. The County currently provides dispatch services for twenty-seven cities in the county at no cost to the cities. However, that may change in the future.
Currently, Richfield, Bloomington, Edina, Eden Prairie, Hopkins, Minnetonka, St. Louis Park and Minneapolis still provide their own dispatching. With the Governor's proposed cuts to Local Government Aid, Richfield may lose approximately $1.5 million in 2010 and must explore cost saving measures. Therefore, Richfield is exploring a number of cost saving options including the County dispatching option since the cost of maintaining our own dispatch center is approximately $720,000 annually. The tax impact of keeping dispatch services in Richfield is approximately $55.00 per year for a $200,000 valued home.
County dispatchers are professional and capable, but Richfield residents will likely lose the personal "customer service" that Richfield dispatchers now provide. The response time for police and fire may also increase slightly should the City use County dispatchers.
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