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Temple Terrace Won't Outsource Dispatching

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JOYCE McKENZIE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 20, 2008

TEMPLE TERRACE - The city will not consolidate its emergency dispatch operations with those of Hillsborough County.

It was an option Temple Terrace Police Chief Tony Velong brought up during a budget workshop as a means to trim the city's costs. He said the action would save the city $1 million a year. The city is facing a potential revenue loss of $1.4 million because of state-mandated rollbacks in property taxes.

The decision not to go forward with the consolidation was a result of a May 13 town hall meeting at which several residents spoke against the measure. City council members also expressed opposition to the proposal, saying that closing the city's dispatch center could negatively impact the city's level of service.

"We put it on the table as one of many options," said City Manager Kim Leinbach, noting he did not want to put the council in the position of having to raise taxes. "Obviously, the issue raised a lot of objections, but not one of those people who are allegedly against it has spoken with me. I'm disappointed."

Other possible budget-cutting measures include instituting a hiring freeze, eliminating staff raises, curbing training and travel expenses, increasing sanitation pickup fees, closing the city's recreation complex on holidays and forgoing the city-sponsored July 4 fireworks and school crossing guards.

Additional budget workshops are expected, and public hearings on the proposed budget will be held in September. It must be approved by Oct. 1.

Reporter Joyce McKenzie can be reached at (813) 865-4849 or jmckenzie@tampatrib.com.

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