Town should share in cost of state police

A study shows it costs $234 per person to patrol communities that to not have a local police force.

There is some bad news for the folks in some of the rural towns around the region.

As you may have heard, there is a movement afoot to have towns that have traditionally relied on state police to patrol their municipalities pick up part of the tab.

This started with Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. Faced with a deficit approaching $3 billion, and fully aware that Republicans who control both the state House and Senate have consistently turned down his requests for increases in either the sales or income taxes, as well as giving a thumb’s down to any new levy on the state’s Marcellus Shale natural gas industry, has been turning over every rock in Harrisburg in the hunt for new revenue.

That brought him to the front door of towns and townships where residents have for years for the most part been getting a free ride when it comes to police patrols.

These are no longer the farming communities they once were. They are now often densely populated bedroom communities, populated with one strip shopping center after another. Crime is no longer a stranger to these communities. But having their own police force is.

Wolf proposed slapping a fee of $25 per person on these towns who wish to continue to use the state police, as opposed to the decidedly more expensive option of instituting their own police force or contracting with a neighboring town for police patrols.

This week a state representative from Lancaster actually upped the ante.

Rep. P. Michael Sturla, D96th Dist., rolled out House Bill 959, which would over a 10-year period gradually increase the fee to $110 per person. A study conducted by the Pennsylvania State Police estimates it costs $234 per person to provide police patrols to areas that do not have a local police force. Sturla estimates his plan would raise $2 billion over an 11-year period. It’s ever more pricey for towns that have their own police force.

Nearly half of Pennsylvania’s 2,561 municipalities do not have their own police force, or in Sturla’s words get “free police coverage.”

This kind of claim raises the hackles of residents and officials of the towns who are benefitting from the state’s largesse. They argue it’s nothing of the sort, that they are already paying taxes to the state.

They are, of course, absolutely correct. But so is everyone else in the Commonwealth. And many of those residents are also paying for the privilege of supporting their own local police department.

There is another problem with the current system. This year nearly $800 million from the state’s Motor License Fund, which is supposed to go toward infrastructure, fixing the state’s crumbling roads and bridges, is instead being siphoned off to pick up part of the tab for state police.

Sturla describes his bill as “compromise” legislation, noting residents are still getting a bargain in that they are not being charged full price for this crucial police service.

Then there are the numbers – and the red ink – staring Gov. Wolf and the Legislature in the face. Revenue is at a premium these days.

“If we have the kind of fiscal problems that we do, why are we giving away $600 million worth of free services,” Sturla said of his plan. I’m willing to only charge them $300 million for it.”

There is no arguing the real revenue crunch the state faces. There also is no point in arguing – as Wolf learned all too well the past two years – with Republicans who control the Legislature to get behind any kind of tax hike.

So where is the money going to come from. It most likely will be found in several spots. You can almost set your clock until the next bill pushing an increase in legalized gambling is dealt in Harrisburg. Republicans once again will flirt with the notion of getting the state out of the booze business, breaking up the LCB and raking in a windfall from licensing stores to private operators to sell wine, beer and spirits.

They also should get behind Sturla’s proposal. That $2 billion figure is nothing to sneeze at.

But the truth is this is the fair thing to do.

Most of these municipalities can no longer argue that they have not been getting a free ride, basically allowing the rest of the state to pay for their police protection.