A single shared emergency dispatch service for Androscoggin County could save $38,610 per year, according to a study by county and municipal officials.

How the savings are shared among the county’s 14 communities won’t be decided until Sept. 10, when the report’s authors are scheduled to pick a course of action.

Lewiston City Administrator James Bennett, chairman of the Androscoggin County Dispatch Committee, said he would attend city council and selectmen meetings in August to present the study and its findings. Individual members of the dispatch committee will meet with people in their communities to get opinions.

The committee is scheduled to meet at Lewiston City Hall on Sept. 10 to vote on a final recommendation.

Elected officials throughout Androscoggin County will then decide whether they want to support the plan.

Getting support will require give and take from every community in the county, Bennett said.

“No one single city or town can determine the outcome of this, unless there is mutual agreement on a course of action,” he said.

The committee has been studying ways to provide a single emergency dispatch service for police, fire and medical emergencies since 2007.

It is a continuation of the 2006 statewide effort to combine 911 call-answering centers. Androscoggin County emerged from that effort with two centers – Lewiston-Auburn 911 and the Sheriff’s Department. All 911 calls in the county go to one of those agencies first and are forwarded to local emergency dispatch services.

Emergency services in Androscoggin County are dispatched by five groups – the sheriff’s department, Lewiston-Auburn 911, the towns of Lisbon and Livermore Falls and United Ambulance. Combined, communities spend about $2.6 million per year for dispatch services. That’s expected to increase since the county is requesting $400,000 in equipment upgrades, adding another $55,000 a year to the budget.

A single dispatch center would require two fewer full-time dispatch employees than the current system.

Cost-sharing models

The bulk of the report focuses on three models for sharing costs among the county’s towns and cities. The models base shares on property values, population or calls for service.

Different communities benefit from different models. All four communities that pay for their own dispatch services would pay less under just about every model, while the smaller and more rural communities would see higher costs.

Rural communities with higher property values fare better if the costs are decided by the number of emergency calls. Durham, Greene, Leeds, Livermore, Mechanic Falls, Minot, Poland, Sabattus, Turner and Wales would pay $333,537 more jointly if costs are decided by calls for service. On the other hand, those communities would pay $721,178 more if costs are allocated based on each community’s property value.

It’s the opposite for communities with their own dispatch services: Auburn, Lewiston, Lisbon and Livermore Falls. They’d save $760,057 if community valuation determines the dispatch costs. But they’d save $372,416 overall if costs are determined by the number of emergency calls. The exception would be Lewiston. With an estimated 37,571 calls for emergency service per year, the city would pay $126,650 more than it now pays.

Bennett said a fourth alternative is to balance the calls for service and property-value models. Or, the communities could decide to do nothing and keep the current system in place.

“If that happens, it’s possible the communities with dispatch could just walk away, and give the service over to the county,” Bennett said. “Then, the county commissioners would decide how to allocate those costs and everyone would end paying more.”

Emergency dispatch cost models

A single emergency dispatch center would save $38,610 across the county. A study by county and community officials looked at three models to pay for the service and share the savings:

Funding based on property values

Communities with higher overall property values pay more.

Worst for: Auburn, Durham, Leeds, Minot, Poland and Turner

Best for: Lewiston, Lisbon, Livermore Falls and Sabattus

Funding based on population

Communities with more citizens pay more.

Worst for: Greene, Livermore, Mechanic Falls and Wales

Best for: Auburn

Funding based on calls

Communities with more emergency calls pay more.

Worst for: Lewiston, Lisbon, Livermore Falls and Sabattus

Best for: Durham, Greene, Leeds, Livermore, Mechanic Falls, Minot, Poland, Turner, and Wales

Source: Dispatch Committee for Androscoggin County report