MADISON — Selectmen have announced plans to dissolve the police department and hand over law enforcement duties to the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department.
Selectman Vice Chairman Jack Ducharme said Tuesday the town will hold a public hearing on the plan.
The move is a way to reduce municipal costs in the wake of a huge loss in tax revenues from the lower assessment for Madison Paper Industries and comes on the heels of the announced retirement of Police Chief Barry Moores.
The town pays about $610,000 for law enforcement services and will be able to save about $130,000 annually by contracting with the sheriff’s department, according to a news release from Ducharme.
“The recent devaluation of the paper mill has caused the Board of Selectmen to examine every facet of municipal government to make sure that Madison is getting the services required by its citizens at the best possible cost,” the release said.
Moores has been meeting with the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department in recent months to discuss the policing needs of the town and ways the two departments can work together.
On Monday, Moores and Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster presented selectmen with a plan to turn over the administration of the Madison Police Department to the sheriff’s department. The release said the plan was presented in executive session because it included information about personnel, wages and benefits.
“The mill devaluation requires that we try to bring that number down,” the release said. “The citizens require that we maintain a certain level of service. The plan presented does both.”
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