Town set to hold police referendum
MILTON TOWNSHIP — The town of Milton will hold a referendum in November about its police department and court, but the wording of that referendum still might be up in the air.
After the town board voted unanimously to hold the referendum asking if the town should eliminate its police department and court, members of a citizen committee said they preferred the town hold two separate referendums for police and court.
Chairman Bryan Meyer appointed the committee in May to investigate the police department and court. The committee recently turned in its report but did not include committee members’ opinions in their findings.
Committee members spoke up after the vote because they felt they weren’t given the chance to offer opinions before the vote.
“The committee feels there’s enough evidence and enough information to separate the two questions,” said Larry Clift, committee chairman.
The committee found the town could contract with Rock County or a nearby community to run municipal citations if it decides to abolish its court. If it contracts with Rock County, the county would charge $5 per citation and not return the fines.
The town also has several options if it decides to eliminate or reduce the police department, the committee found. It could hire a code enforcement officer, reduce the police department to one member or contract with the Rock County Sheriff’s Office or another local community to patrol the town.
The village of Footville, for example, contracts with Rock County to patrol the village 100 additional hours a month at a cost of $53,000 a year, more than twice the town of Milton’s police department budget.
The cost to the town for extra patrolling would vary depending on how much patrolling the town requests.
Committee members said residents might want to keep the court and abolish the police department or vice versa.
Meyer and supervisors Marian Trescher and John Traynor indicated they would have voted for separate referendum questions if they knew the committee’s opinion before the vote.
“On the budget it’s separate issues, so why shouldn’t it be separate issues on the referendum?” Traynor asked.
But supervisors Sue Gavigan and Michael Murphy said the board should stick to the decision it already made.
“I think that’s a bad practice to start changing votes because people changed their minds,” Gavigan said.
The court and police department go hand in hand, so it doesn’t make sense to have one without the other, Gavigan said.
Meyer said he will think about putting the issue on a future agenda for discussion. The town has until Sept. 24 to submit referendum questions to the county for the November election.
Jul 16, 2008 at 12:27 p.m.
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Yes, the question is whether we want to duplicate services we're already paying for. The municipal laws and codes won't be enforced by the Rock County Sherif Department that we already pay for. But, what are these laws? And, why do we really want to pay all this money to enforce them? This is a case of needing less government, I think. I'm for getting rid of the police department and for scaling back the plans for the new school. Let's begin to be more fiscally responsible.
Jul 15, 2008 at 11:37 p.m.
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Either the reporter did not bother to check her facts or she is spinning the article to favor one side of the issue. She has presented Footville, a village, as an example rather than another town. Myopinion correctly stated that the rules/laws towns and villages are different. Rock County current patrols the Town of Milton 24x7, it would not cost the Town any extra to continue this service. Rock County is already responsible for the vast major of the citations issued in the Town of Milton.
I believe the paper need to print a correction on this rather slanted story.
Jul 15, 2008 at 9:38 p.m.
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Nascar17- There are different statues for a town and a village. For instance, a village has to have a post office - a town doesn't, a village has to have a bussiness district - a town doesn't, a village has to have sewer and water for all reidents -a town doesn't, a village has to provide it's own police protection - a town doesn't. These a just some of the differences. If you notice, the article says "the VILLAGE of Footville, for example, contracts with Rock County to patrol the VILLAGE 100 ADDITIONAL hours a month at the cost of $53,000 a year". They have requested 1,200 hours a year over and above the normal patrolling. Milton Town has no need for that.
Jul 15, 2008 at 7:41 p.m.
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Hmmm Im confused why does the Village of Footville pay $53,000 to the sheriff's department then for patrolling when they too pay county taxes....I think someone is leaving out some info??????????
Jul 15, 2008 at 3:40 p.m.
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Lupine,
I understand why you are confused-you not the only one. You are correct, Rock County Sheriff does patrol Milton Township 24 hrs a day 7 days a week. The amount that is budgted by Milton Township for the Rock County Sheriff to patrol is $0. Eliminating the Town Police would not change that. The only thing that the Milton Police do that Rock county would not cover are ordinance violations. According to our ordiances (section 3.6) we must have a "Ordinance enforcement officer". This would be MUCH less costly to the taxpayers and just as efficent.
Another thing I would like to clear up is that Footville is a village. Milton is a town. The statues for village and towns are completly different.
Sue Gavigan
Town of MItlon Supervisor
868-2482
Jul 15, 2008 at 3:31 p.m.
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The Rock County Sheriff's Office patrols Milton Township the same as it patrols other townships in the county. The town has the option of hiring the county to provide additional patrolling.
For a more in-depth look at how law enforcement works in Milton Township, read this related article: http://gazettextra.com/news/2008/may/18/...
-Stacy Vogel, reporter
Jul 15, 2008 at 2:24 p.m.
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I'm confused. Why would an option be to pay Rock County to patrol when they are already patrolling 24/7? I thought Rock Cty Sheriff Dept was being paid out of our county tax dollars already. Does the Town of Milton budget for Rock Cty Sheriff Dept patrolling now? How much will the Town of Milton have to budget if the police dept. is eliminated?
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