CAPE MAY – Cape May City Council Sept. 7 passed a resolution, making the switch to county dispatch services official.
Since a lightning strike, in July, destroyed much of the dispatch equipment then in use by the city’s dispatch center, the city has been providing service by locating its personnel at the county dispatch location, in Lower Township.
Cape May Police Chief Dekon Fashaw said the cost of recreating the city’s dedicated dispatch operation exceeds the expense of transferring the service to the county.
Deputy Mayor Stacy Sheehan resisted the vote at the meeting, noting the council had not seen a complete financial analysis. The resolution approving the agreement with the county made its way to the agenda without a chief financial officer certification of funds and the council receiving a full analysis of the costs.
Mayor Zack Mullock said he saw enough of the numbers to feel confident that the move of dispatch services will lead to financial savings for the city. Sheehan argued that the resolution should not have been on the agenda without the proper financial analysis accompanying it.
The need for a financial impact statement for every resolution was a recommendation put before the council earlier in the year by its Municipal Taxation and Revenue Advisory Committee. Council has yet to enact a process that would ensure such analysis precede actual votes.
The county is aiming for an official acceptance of dispatch responsibility for the city by Nov. 1.
