Butler County is adding two full-time 911 dispatchers to deal with a roughly 25 percent increase in police calls this year.

The bulk of the increase is tied to the 911 center taking over dispatching of city police.

The county salary board in a unanimous vote Thursday added the posts, which pay $21.07 an hour with benefits and retirement.

Steve Bicehouse, director of county emergency services, said in an interview that total police calls rose from 11,440 in January and February of 2015 to 15,205 for the same period this year.

“We’re a little busier,” Bicehouse said.

The county began police dispatching for the city in July. Five part-time dispatcher posts were created then to address an anticipated increase.

Bicehouse said at the meeting that overtime costs surged even with the additional part-time staff.

For the first eight months, overtime costs totaled $111,295. The final four months incurred nearly as much money at $104,991.

“We know our overtime costs are significant,” Bicehouse said at the meeting.

Rob McLafferty, county 911 coordinator, said at the meeting the switch may reduce costs.

“We could actually see a savings,” he said.

County Controller Ben Holland, who is on the salary board with the three county commissioners, disagreed, saying it would not save money due to the cost of benefits.

“I really don’t,” Holland said in an interview. “If it does, that’s great.”

During the meeting he said the overtime should be monitored to ensure the new posts don’t cost more money in the end.

However, Holland agreed there is a need to address the rising number of police dispatches.

“When somebody calls 911, they want somebody on the other line,” he said.

The 911 dispatch center in Butler Township now has 20 full-time dispatchers and 17 part-timers.

Part-time dispatchers will be offered the new full-time posts. If any part-timers accept, then new hires would replace them as part-time workers.

The salary board also added a temporary probation officer post to cover the absence of an injured officer.

The temporary post, which will not exceed 600 hours, pays $23.97 an hour.

Two election assistant jobs also were created. The posts, which run from March 17 through Dec. 31, pay $15.30 an hour.

Shari Brewer, elections bureau director, said extra workers are always added in presidential election years.

She said absentee ballot applications rise from about 500 to 1,000 to about 6,000 to 7,000.

The salary board also eliminated a car pool director post, which paid $51,091 annually.

Rather than replace a retired employee, the board opted to create a temporary post combining those duties with those of bridge manager Kevin Gray.

The new bridge and fleet director post pays $74,116.

The post reverts back to bridge manager, which pays $57,616 a year, at the end of the year.

Part of Gray’s expanded duties includes reviewing whether the county needs a car pool director and how many vehicles the county should maintain.