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Payette officials work to resolve $121,000 dispatch dispute between city, county

The city of Payette previously paid $48,000 for both emergency and non-emergency dispatch services from the sheriff's office. The city now has until Oct. 1 to pay more than double that amount to keep services as is.

Payette — Every day, people across the country call 911 when they have an emergency, big or small. Starting on Oct. 1 though, people who live in the city of Payette may soon have to change the way they report those small emergencies.

“The sheriff proposed a fee hike, which is actually double what we were paying before,” Payette Police Chief Mark Clark said.

As of Thursday, Payette County wants the city to pay $121,000 to keep services as is.

Payette County Prosecutor Ross Pittman told KTVB the city of Payette makes up about 32 percent of the county's population, which means they use about 32 - 37 percent of dispatch services, and that's why the county is asking the city to pay more. He adds that the budget has gone up, but the city fees have not.

“So based on that, the county is wanting the city to pay for that use,” Pittman said.

Ross told KTVB the city and county made a verbal agreement last year, in which the city would pay a little more.

“Fast forward, they said they were going to sign it, they never did and we found out through a newspaper article that they had no intention of signing it,” Pittman said. “So, that's where we're at. We've been going for a year since and have gotten nowhere."

In a statement, Payette Mayor Jeff Williams said that “from the City Council and my perspective, all of the City of Payette taxpayers are being charged disproportionately because every taxpayer in Payette County is already paying into the Justice Fund and part of that amount trickles down to pay for County Dispatch Services.”

Mayor Williams also told KTVB, that there is no uniform method for how counties charge each city for dispatch services, which means there are 44 different dispatch formulas in the state.

“By code and by law, the sheriff is required to provide 911 services. Right now, we're in talks with the sheriff to say 'what does that mean?'... worst case scenario is that we will answer your 911 call and police and fire will show up,” Clark said. “This is basically going to fall back on ordinances or service calls that don't come through 911. So, the public shouldn't worry about that.”

Mayor Williams said he is hopeful that something can be resolved before the Oct. 1 deadline.

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