AUBURN — Decision-makers may finally decide who will answer when people in Androscoggin County’s smaller towns call for help.
The Androscoggin County Budget Committee plans to examine a plan Wednesday evening that would charge 12 of the county’s 14 towns for answering 911 calls and dispatching help.
So far, nine of the 12 towns have formally signed on, agreeing to contract with the county for at least some services.
The communities of Lisbon and Greene have made verbal-but-informal notice supporting at least partial dispatching with the county, said Randall Greenwood, chairman of the County Commission. Poland selectmen planned to meet Tuesday and could take up the measure.
Lewiston and Auburn leaders awaited Wednesday’s meeting and the hope of more data to convince them that the new fee structure will erase enough costs to taxpayers in the cities.
“The day for reckoning has come,” said Jonathan LaBonte, Auburn’s mayor and a former county commissioner. “This thing has been batted around for a quarter of a century. At some point, decisions have to get made.”
Lewiston and Auburn argue that since they have their own 911 center — Lewiston-Auburn 911 — the city’s should not pay for answering calls or dispatching municipal emergency services in the county’s other towns.
In June, the Budget Committee scuttled one plan to fix the county system. The 11-member group wanted more information about costs and expenses before approving spending.
The fees, created in October, call for per-capita fees to be charged to the towns: $2 per person in the community for answering the calls, $6.15 per person for dispatching a town police department and $2.50 per person for dispatching rescue and fire services.
Lewiston and Auburn would still pay a substantial share of the county’s dispatching costs — about $118,000 in Lewiston and $101,000 in Auburn — but nearly one-third of the $600,000 total would be raised by fees.
If fewer towns sign on, the revenue gap would be absorbed by the tax levy shared countywide, Greenwood said.
He feels confident that the fees will be accepted, he said. “I think we’re prepared for the Budget Committee.”
LaBonte said he was less sure. Auburn City Manager Clinton Deschene has threatened a possible suit against the county. LaBonte did not rule it out Tuesday.
“What we have is an issue where the county commissioners have offered a service to 12 of the 14 communities. That is against the law,” LaBonte said. “The dynamic is if they don’t feel they can wrestle with this issue, don’t be in it. If they want to wrestle with this issue, consult with an attorney and make sure they do it equitably.”
Wednesday’s meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. in the law library of the Androscoggin County Courthouse in Auburn.
dhartill@sunjournal.com
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