By Victoria Pierce, Special to the Tribune
With municipal finances squeezed during tough economic times, three western suburbs are studying whether they should consolidate their police, fire and dispatch departments to save money and perhaps improve service.
The villages of La Grange, La Grange Park and Western Springs are working with the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and the MacArthur Foundation on the study, which is set to start early in September and finish by the end of the year. Municipal officials will then discuss the results and make recommendations early in 2011.
“Intergovernmental cooperation is nothing new for the three communities,” said La Grange Village Manager Robert Pilipiszyn.
Each town is contributing $7,500 for the study, which will be conducted by consultant William Balling, the former village manager of Buffalo Grove.
Many Illinois municipalities have laid off employees, cut services and spent down reserves to stay afloat as the state finances flounder.
“There is a tremendous duplication of efforts being done,” said La Grange Park Police Chief Daniel McCollum. “The driving force is saving money, but you can’t short services.”
McCollum said the villages could agree to share equipment such as the fire departments’ costly aerial ladder trucks. Or, a canine unit could be shared among police departments.
Those types of arrangements would likely be the minimum if any consolidation is pursued, Pilipiszyn said.
At the other end of the spectrum is the possibility of a full integration of emergency services into one regional department with a central lockup facility and dispatch center, he said.
But there will be numerous issues to examine before such a big step is taken, and the public would have ample opportunity to comment, Pilipiszyn said.
Bargaining units would also be consulted, and many different policies and practices would have to be reconciled.
For example, McCollum said, in La Grange Park police help citizens if they are locked out of their cars. Not every town offers that service and La Grange Park residents may not be willing to give up that kind of personal service. He also noted that La Grange Park has an active Adopt A Cop collaboration with the schools that is also important to the community.
“It’s going to require a buy-in from the constituency,” McCollum said.
Having public support for such a change is critical. Community identity is often very important to residents. Seeing their town’s name on police cars and fire trucks is part of that identity and giving that up may be too great a sacrifice even if it saves money.
But Pilipiszyn said in many cases a consolidation can improve services. What each town can’t accomplish separately, they may be able to do better together.
For example, he said, La Grange now has two dispatchers on at all times while La Grange Park and Western Springs often only have one. If that one dispatcher is busy on an emergency call, it’s hard to be able to help other callers with less dire needs. With two on duty that isn’t usually an issue.
Consolidating emergency services is not a new trend. Departments across the country, from Dade County in Florida to Boone County in Illinois have explored the option for decades. After study, some have consolidated while others have not. Locally, the nearby towns of Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills, Burr Ridge and Willowbrook have explored the issue and Pilipiszyn said other suburbs are looking into consolidating fire departments.
Pilipiszyn and McCollum said they believe more municipalities will consider consolidating emergency services during the tough financial times.
Emergency services are usually the first considered for consolidation because they are the most expensive departments to operate, but McCollum said he can see more possibilities for sharing services or consolidating departments beyond police and fire.
