Steve Bicehouse

Butler County is considering hiring two new full-time 911 dispatchers.

Steve Bicehouse, county emergency services director, says they would help with the increase of calls coming from the city.

In July, the county 911 center took over police dispatching for the city. At the time, the county hired five part-time dispatchers to help with the additional volume of calls.

Since then, Bicehouse said overtime costs show a “very telling tale” about how many more calls the 911 center has taken.

From Jan. 1, 2015, to Feb. 28, 2015, the 911 center got about 11,000 police calls. In that same time this year, it got 15,200 calls — a 24 percent increase.

Rob McLafferty, 911 coordinator, said the full-time positions would cost the county $67,000 with the new dispatchers making about $21 per hour with benefits.

However, he said the decrease in overtime of $77,000 would lead to a net savings of $10,000.

For a complete report, get Thursday's Butler Eagle newspaper.