Penobscot County will appeal ruling Officials fear dispatch decision may affect regionalization efforts

BANGOR – Penobscot County officials said Tuesday that they will appeal last week’s court decision that frees Bangor from paying for the regional emergency dispatching center through county taxes.

Bangor officials estimate that the city overpaid the county by as much as $300,000 during the last three years, although the appeal would delay any attempts to collect the money. It’s also uncertain whether Bangor will be required to continue to pay the county during the appeal process.

The effects of the initial decision stretch far outside the city and county limits and also may affect efforts to regionalize other county services, county officials said.

“If this decision stood, it would be a major step backward in the efforts to regionalize services, and that’s what we’re concerned about,” Penobscot County Commissioner Peter Baldacci, a Bangor lawyer, said after the commissioners’ Tuesday meeting. Five other counties fund their dispatch centers through county taxes, another reason county officials said that last week’s decision by Penobscot County Superior Court Justice Andrew Mead should be reviewed by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, also called the Law Court.

“It’s an important issue that the full Law Court needs to address, and we respectfully disagree with the conclusions reached by Justice Mead,” Baldacci said.

The commissioners made their decision to appeal after a 40-minute executive session with their attorney, John McCarthy of Bangor.

In filing its suit last November against the county, the city of Bangor claimed that it was paying not only for its own city dispatch center, but also for the one that now serves most of Penobscot County. Both sides sought a summary judgment in the case, and Mead granted it in favor of the city on Oct. 21.

Bangor Mayor Dan Tremble said Tuesday afternoon that he wasn’t surprised by the county’s decision to appeal as the “county has a lot to lose.” He said, however, that the ruling was unambiguous and that he felt there was little room in which successfully to make an appeal.

Initial estimates suggest Bangor was overcharged between $90,000 and $100,000 for each of the last three years, City Finance Director Deborah Cyr said Tuesday. She added, however, that she was waiting for additional budget figures from the county.

While the appeal is being made, many things remain uncertain. County officials said they are unsure how to proceed with next year’s budget not knowing whether to include the city’s share of the funding.

“It leaves the budget process up in the air,” Commissioner Tom Davis said after Tuesday’s meeting.

News of the decision has spread and already is causing some discomfort elsewhere in the state. In Somerset County, which also funds a regional dispatch center through county taxes, Sheriff Barry DeLong said he is concerned about what the future holds.

If Bangor’s position is upheld, DeLong questioned whether his county would be required to reimburse Skowhegan for the years that it paid for regional dispatch through taxes but didn’t use it.

Paying for usage wouldn’t necessarily have to stop at dispatch, either. DeLong said to be truly fair, counties also might have to charge communities based on their usage of other county services, such as the jails and law enforcement.

DeLong also suggested that bills could go out to the state and federal governments when jails process and house people charged by Maine game wardens or by federal authorities.

In his decision, Mead noted that while one statute allowed each county to establish a communications center, another applicable statute stated that a county “may not require municipalities or other entities to subscribe to, contract for or participate in any service under this section.”

Penobscot County officials disagreed and further argued Tuesday that the regional dispatch center was developed in response to needs identified in the county, including by Bangor.

In 1995, a regional dispatch center was endorsed by the Bangor City Council in a resolve that also stated the council “supports the funding of that center through the County Budget.”

The regional dispatch center was formed in 1997, and its operating budget was funded by user fees from participating municipalities and the county. Three years ago, the county’s budget committee voted to roll the dispatch center budget into the county tax, a less cumbersome method of payment, county officials said Tuesday.

“That helped us start down the road,” Baldacci said.

Where that road now leads is in question, county officials said.

NEWS reporter Dawn Gagnon contributed to this report.