SEBRING ‒ Village Council tonight will consider ending local dispatching services.
Council is weighing a decision to contract with Canfield for police and fire calls in the township and beyond. The council meeting starts at 7 p.m.
A new piece of legislation − Ordinance 40-2025 − on tonight’s agenda for council to discuss and potentially vote on would direct the village manager to contract with Canfield for dispatch services starting Jan. 1, 2026.
In an email, Village Manager Tim Gabrelcik said he has been monitoring the dispatch center for about a year, and the costs to run it continue to rise due to pay raises and equipment upgrades. He said it needs between $500,000 and $1 million dollars to keep it operational.
Gabrelcik said the police levy, approved by voters in 2024, was for all police department operations − equipment, payroll, vehicles and community programming − and it generates up to $148,000 annually, half of which went to police and dispatch pay raises.
“After a year of monitoring the budget and needs of dispatch, we have explored the possibility of having it outsourced,” Gabrelcik said. “It is not just a budgetary concern, but a concern of being able to staff our dispatch center appropriately.”
He added that the dispatch center − which handles emergency calls for Sebring, Smith Township, North Georgetown fire and Homeworth fire − does not have enough staff members to keep it open. If legislation passes, Gabrelcik said village officials would work on a transition plan.
If the legislation passes, Gabrelcik said village officials will work on a transition plan.
“Of course, this challenge is not isolated to Sebring. Local dispatch centers in the county and across the state are experiencing the same issues. The most current and local being Strongsville,” the village manager said Aug. 19. “It is not an easy decision or task with the possibility of layoffs and hurdles with tying communications together.”
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Sebring Village might end local dispatch services, contract with Canfield
Reporting by Benjamin Duer, Canton Repository / The Repository
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