Beech Grove's Financial Woes to Burden Speedway?

(updated 9.27.09)

Beech Grove Mayor Joe Wright's statement on the effect of HB 1001 on Beech Grove's 2010 budget:

"The fiscal impact of HB 1001 means Beech Grove will lose $1 million in property tax revenue in 2010, a permanent fiscal reduction. A revenue decrease of this magnitude requires a holistic structural change to achieve the reduction while still providing services for our citizens.

Responsible, proactive good government practices include analyzing all available, reasonable options, including the possibility of combining services with neighboring communities for cost savings and greater efficiencies, where appropriate.

To that end, a task force of Beech Grove residents and City officials has been formed to evaluate options to achieve the $1 million reduction and explore possible relationships with other government entities, including dispatch agencies."

(updated 9.26.09)

Statement from Town Manager Barbara Lawrence on the possible merger of Beech Grove and Speedway dispatch centers.

"The concept of merging dispatch services with Beech Grove is under consideration.  There has been no commitment on either side, but we are very interested is seeing what the options are, the potential issues and if, in fact, it can be done.  In this age of local government finding ways to do more with less, it is an idea that we find interesting and want to continue the due diligence and dialog.  And perhaps it will result in joint dispatch services.  Above all, we don't want to do anything that will compromise public safety or increase costs without a revenue stream to pay for it. "

(posted 9.24.09)

This week's edition of the Indy Southsider.com reports that Beech Grove has eliminated police and fire dispatchers from its 2010 budget, with Speedway dispatchers taking on the work load. Requests for comments from Beech Grove Mayor Joe Wright and Speedway Police Chief Jeff Dine have not been returned.

A Beech Grove dispatcher who did not want to be identified said the 33 police officers and 35 firefighters respond to an average of 6000 calls a month received at the call center. Speedway police officers logged over 22,000 runs in 2008, with 1896 runs for the fire department.

Beech Grove has eight dispatchers, Speedway has nine full time, with one open position, and four part time dispatchers. Speedway is typically staffed by two dispatchers per shift, with extra personnel brought in for race weekends.

Speedway's 2010 proposed budget for dispatchers is less than $4,000 more than this year's budget, an indication that no new personnel will be hired.

The county's 911 phone and dispatching system is flexible enough to allow calls from one town to be routed to any of the PSAPs (public safety answering points) in the system. During the remodel of Speedway's PSAP last year, dispatchers worked from the county's backup site in Perry township.