By Jaime North
LEWISBURG -- After months of progress, the Union County regional police initiative has stalled as officials continue to crunch numbers in search of the best financial balance between East Buffalo Township and Lewisburg to fund the department.
Officials were hoping to lock into a funding plan Wednesday for the initial costs to launch a regional force involving the township and borough, along with New Berlin buying monthly patrols hours.
All of the players remain. How much of the annual operation cost the two main municipalities are willing to take on has become the sticking point, particularly after the first year.
"There is no way we're going to levy an additional tax on a police force that's functioning quite well now," said Hank Baylor, an East Buffalo Township supervisor and committee chairman. "Why can't we regionalize with the money we have now?"
East Buffalo officials say they want to make sure the township doesn't take on too much of the costs, especially exceeding what it could afford on its own. Officials say they're on board to share more of the financial burden as the municipality grows in population, which would result in a need for more police response.
Lewisburg officials say the initial estimates already are exceeding what the borough pays now. With the borough landlocked and having no room to grow in population, officials say the borough already has difficulty handling rising operation costs on a shrinking tax base.
Initial estimates say it's going to cost $1.7 million to launch a department of 16 full-time officers, based on the current figures East Buffalo Township and Lewisburg budget for police services. The township budgeted $900,000 for this year, and the borough allocated $880,000.
New Berlin, a much smaller municipality, would pay for service based on patrol hours through a contract.
Julie Finkbiner, a New Berlin councilwoman, said the borough earmarked $56,000 this year for police services and is still interested in contracting for 30 hours a week from the regional force. New Berlin has a part-time department now.
The committee is considering a formula based on projected patrol hours for each municipality factored in with a calculated share between East Buffalo and Lewisburg. Officials talked about a 52 percent share for the township and 48 percent for the borough, which would equal $917,000 and $865,000, respectively.
Lewisburg officials favor a formula without a set cost-share but with variables of real-estate taxes, population density, market value of properties and road mileage.
Either way, Lewisburg Police Chief Paul Yost said regionalization is a better option than sticking with separate departments. East Buffalo Township Chief Barry Hosterman supported Yost's sentiment.
"Any time you have more staff, you have the ability to provide better services," Yost said. "When you're using a police department of seven officers and a chief, you struggle with day-to-day operations. The rising costs we face will continue whether we're regionalized or not."
Despite losing two key players late last year -- Kelly Township and Mifflinburg -- the committee moved forward with plans of having a funding formula and charter agreement in place by February.
Baylor said the committee will review both funding options next month with hope of coming to an agreement before tackling the charter agreement. Regionalizing is the best option for the municipalities to handle the changing landscape of the communities, he said.
"We need to be prepared for the future," said Baylor, adding that limited staffing often has pulled the township's full-time detective away from investigations and onto patrols. "I don't think our department is going to be able to handle the changes we'll face in the future."
Baylor added: "Drugs are on the rise, and the Internet has become a haven for criminals. It would also be nice to have someone who focused in domestic affairs, someone in children and youth, and maybe even someone in the schools. We need a department that's able to specialize and offer the kind of services our communities are going to need in addition to maintaining street presence."
n E-mail comments to jnorth@dailyitem.com.
