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City of Hartford officials say sharing Washington Co. sales tax not a part of Hartford PD dispatch consolidation

Judy Steffes
By Judy Steffes
499
October 5, 2023 – Hartford, WI – An open records request for communication has revealed information regarding a recent consolidation of the Hartford Police Department dispatch services with Washington County, Wi.

Hartford

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According to the series of emails between Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann, and officials in the City of Hartford, WI there was no agreement, per City Administrator Steve Volkert or Hartford Mayor Timothy J. Michalak, to combine Hartford Police Dispatch with Washington County Sheriff’s Dispatch and use shared sales tax as a way to fund the effort.

It was April 4, 2023, during the Spring Election 32,219 (76.76%) voters in 15 municipalities across Washington County voted in favor of an advisory referendum for Washington County to share 20% of its annual sales tax revenues to fund local roads.

Below is an image of the advisory referendum as it appeared on the ballot.

Since that time, multiple requests have been made by taxpayers and organizations for the county to take up the issue.

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From: Steve Volkert
Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2023 4:38 PM
To: Josh Schoemann <County.Exec@washcowisco.gov>
Cc: Tim Michalak Home <tim.michalak@att.net>; Jeffrey Schleif <Jeffrey.Schleif@washcowisco.gov>; Martin Schulteis <martin.schulteis@washcowisco.gov>; Loni Hagerup <Loni.Hagerup@washcowisco.gov>
Subject: RE: V3

Josh,

If the Mayor hasn’t contacted you, please understand that the City of Hartford in no way consider these two issues (Dispatch Consolidation and Shared Sales Tax) to be related.  We will not be publicizing that this is in lieu of sales tax sharing.  Likewise, we feel the County should not be using this either in that way.  We are proceeding to look at this on its own merits of providing the highest services for the lowest costs.  If the reason the County is looking at this is a way to combat the debate of sharing sales tax, then we need to back out of this agreement.

I just want to be clear.

Steve Volkert

City Administrator

Hartford, WI

 

From: tim.michalak@att.net <tim.michalak@att.net>
Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2023 8:15 AM
To: ‘Josh Schoemann’ <County.Exec@washcowisco.gov>; ‘Jeffrey Schleif’ <Jeffrey.Schleif@washcowisco.gov>; ‘Martin Schulteis’ <martin.schulteis@washcowisco.gov>; ‘Loni Hagerup’ <Loni.Hagerup@washcowisco.gov>
Cc: Steve Volkert <svolkert@hartford.wi.gov>
Subject: RE: V3

Dear County Executive Schoemann,

     You know that I have been supportive of a consolidation of police dispatch for 14 years when I first reviewed it with Sheriff Schmidt.  I have discussed this recently with City Administrator Steve Volkert and Hartford Police Chief Scott MacFarlan and you all have put together a plan that looks to be something which benefits both the city and the county.  Future dollars will be saved by the city and increased PSAP funding will be enjoyed by the county, while maintaining a high quality of service.

     This is all separate from the county sales tax discussion given the plan we discussed years ago.  There was no mention of sales tax revenue at that time.  Since then, there was a referendum in the last election where the city of Hartford voted 83% to ask for a 20% sharing of the county sales tax to help cover expenses for items like roads and EMT/Paramedics.  None of the 15 communities that participated in the referendum had a result under 70%.  After further discussions with Steve Volkert, we believe that adding the following verbiage in your requested resolution will cause it to fail:

WHEREAS, for the consolidation to occur, the City of Hartford must pass a resolution to enter into a consolidated dispatch agreement with the County, which must acknowledge that the funds allocated to the consolidation represent a sharing of the County’s sales tax dollars.

     We will remove that portion in order to give this resolution the best possibility of passing.  Our city council goes in its own direction as proved by recent votes, and I would hate to see this opportunity passed by due to its connection with an unrelated topic that should be vetted separately.  Operational topics like what we’ve been working on for years should not be comingled with recent politics when dealing with safety.

Sincerely,

Timothy C. Michalak

Mayor – City of Hartford

From: Josh Schoemann <County.Exec@washcowisco.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2023 10:04 AM
To: ‘svolkert@ci.hartford.wi.us’ <svolkert@ci.hartford.wi.us>
Cc: Tim Michalak (Hartford) <tim.michalak@att.net>; Jeffrey Schleif <Jeffrey.Schleif@washcowisco.gov>; Martin Schulteis <martin.schulteis@washcowisco.gov>; Loni Hagerup <Loni.Hagerup@washcowisco.gov>
Subject: V3

Dear Mayor Michalak and Administrator Volkert,

Attached is the final draft of the resolution for consolidating dispatch with the City of Hartford, which we plan to place on next week’s Public Safety agenda, per last week’s discussion with your team.

Please review the attached and let me know if there is any areas of immediate concern or comment. I want to make sure we are collaborative on this.

I hope this can help to form a baseline for the City’s resolution.  Please note the discussed requirement that the City’s resolution acknowledge the savings (estimated at $200,000 per year) as the county’s contribution of sales tax.

Let me know if your have any questions or concerns.

Thank you!

Josh

JOSH SCHOEMANN

County Executive

E:  County.Exec@washcowisco.gov

O: (262) 306-2200

Herbert J. Tennies Government Center

432 E. Washington St.

West Bend, WI 53095-7986

Attempts to access the resolution on the county website indicate archived agenda items are no longer available electronically. Click HERE to try to access archived meetings.

Below is a statement released October 4, 2023, from Hartford’s Police and Fire Chief regarding the status of dispatch.

CITY OF HARTFORD DISPATCH MERGING SERVICES WITH WASHINGTON COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT
The City of Hartford has a proud history of providing dispatch services to the community since 1967. There have been, and continue to be, many technological advances in 9-1-1 answering services over the years. The most recent change in technology we are facing is the transition to Next Generation 9-1-1 services. These services allow the caller in an emergency to text, send a picture, and/or send a video to a 9-1-1 dispatcher.
As you can imagine, providing these types of services will require additional staffing and a significant upgrade in current technology. To implement this new way of 9-1-1 services, our communications center will need to double the staff in this area. Recruiting dispatchers is a challenge and has been made increasingly difficult following the COVID-19 pandemic. There are fewer individuals that seek a very technical, stressful, job that requires them to work in a rotation, around the clock, and on weekends and holidays. The move to Next Gen 9-1-1 will also require a technology upgrade to the current 9-1-1 system to allow it to accept and store new types of data, update the GIS, and the physical area where the dispatchers currently work to include additional workspace for staff.
When staff first began attending meetings regarding the State of Wisconsin developing a statewide Next Generation 9-1-1 system, there was discussion of grants being made available to dispatch centers to assist with the costs of such a major transition. When the time came and the grant solicitations were released by the Department of Military Affairs Office of Emergency Communications, the City of Hartford did not qualify for any of the funding.
The only public safety answering point (PSAP) in the county that qualified was Washington County Sheriff’s department. Wisconsin statute restricts grant awards under the PSAP Grant Program to one PSAP per county. The Designated PSAP is identified by resolution of the county board. In addition to that, the Designated PSAP is required to meet the basic training and service standards detailed in Wis. Admin. Code DMA § 2.04 Minimum Training and Service Standards. While we may meet the training standards, we do not meet a couple of the minimum service standards. The following are the minimum service standards we do not comply with.
• The PSAP receives both wireline and wireless 9-1-1 calls directly.
• A minimum of two telecommunicators are on duty and available to receive and process calls while the PSAP is in operation.
As it relates to the first service standard listed above, Hartford dispatch answers all wireline 9-1-1 calls, but Washington County Sheriff’s dispatch center answers all the wireless 9-1-1 calls. This equates to between 80% to 90%of all 9-1-1 calls and continues to grow as fewer individuals and businesses use wireline for their phone service.
The second service standard would require us to double our staffing as our minimum is always currently one dispatcher on duty with occasional overlap for a few hours every so often. The hiring of additional staff to comply with this requirement would come at great expense and would require an increase in the tax levy.
In addition to the language regarding allowable expenses for Next Gen 9-1-1 implementation in the grant solicitation, was language about consolidation. Activities to consolidate some or all functions of two or more PSAP’s were considered allowable expenses. The grant funds must be used in the direct support of the Designated PSAP’s consolidation of some or all functions of another PSAP. This language made it clear to us that even at the state government level consolidation was being encouraged.
There is no path to grant funding for Hartford to implement Next Gen 9-1-1 services, therefore, the entire cost would fall on the Hartford taxpayers. The Washington County Sheriff’s department is the only PSAP eligible for the grant funding within the county and in fact has already received funding toward the implementation of their Next Gen 9-1-1 service.
Hartford dispatch could choose to stay the course and not move to the Next Gen 9-1-1 service, but in doing so, it would provide a lower level of service than all other residents in Washington County would experience in their respective communities. The decision to merge was based on the factors and considerations outlined above and was not an easy one.
It was not based on the current or past performance of the staff in the dispatch center, who we know work diligently every day, around the clock, to provide the best service for our citizens. The pressure to consolidate is coming increasingly from the State of Wisconsin. We are not unique in this as other PSAPs in neighboring Ozaukee County made the same decision recently to merge their services with Ozaukee County. This is where the industry is headed, and where the resources are being directed.
As you can imagine, there are a lot of moving parts to the process of merging two dispatch centers, but we have planned it in a way that leverages the timing of normal attrition such that none of the staff will lose their employment with the City of Hartford because of the change in operations. There will of course be a change in city services in several areas that relate to the dispatch center, but every effort is being made to mitigate any foreseeable issues during the planning and implementation phases.
Many are wondering how their interaction with Hartford Police services will be because of this change in operations. The administrative phone line (262)673-2600 still be answered during the day by Police Support Specialists if the (new) auto attendant does not meet the caller’s needs. Citizens that visit our lobby will still be greeted during the day by a Police Support Specialist that can help them with their needs. After hours, they can pick up the phone to be in contact with a dispatcher at Washington County dispatch center that can connect them to Hartford Police services.
Remember, between 80% and 90% of the 9-1-1 calls individuals in Hartford make are currently being answered by dispatchers at the Washington County Sheriff’s department. If an officer is requested, a Hartford police officer will still arrive to assist the individual in need. First responders from Hartford Fire and Rescue will continue to service the community. Hartford Utilities have already transitioned to an answering service, like the Village of Slinger uses currently, to answer calls for power outages and other utility issues. We are planning to move third shift dispatch operations over on October 9, 2023, and the remaining shifts by the first quarter of 2024.
Finally, though this change in operations is new to us, it is not new to many other law enforcement agencies with dispatch centers in neighboring counties and throughout the State of Wisconsin. There has been a growing shift in the direction of dispatch centers merging services, and advances in technology have helped to facilitate that change. Over the years we have forged a relationship with the Washington County Sheriff’s Department built on mutual respect, professionalism, and trust, and thus we are confident that throughout this process the best interests of our community will be at the forefront.
Decisions like this are never easy. We give a tremendous amount of credit and praise to the men and women who have worked behind the phone and radio since 1967 to provide a high level of service to this community. Following this change in operations, those specialists will continue in their new role to provide professional services to those who chose to reside, work, or recreate, in the City of Hartford. We thank the Hartford community for the tremendous amount of support we have received over the many years.
We do not take it for granted and will continue to provide a high level of service to the City of Hartford.
Chief Paul Stephans
Chief Scott MacFarlan

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