By Mary Drier
Staff Writer
UNIONVILLE — There are a couple of reasons municipalties have done or are considering consolidation of services — money and state mandiates.
Unionville Village officials have discussed the possibility of sharing police services on and off for several months. There will be a public meeting 6-8 p.m., Wednesday, April 16.
According to village Clerk Carole Gangler, the biggest reason for considering consolidation is finances.
“The revenue just isn’t there and they (the council) doens’t want to raise taxes,” she said.
Currently, the village has two part-time police officers who each work 12 hours a week.
“And, the state keeps pushing for consolidation of services,” said Gangler.
In order to receive state funding, municipalties have to jump through several hoops… one of which is consolidation of services.
Consolidation in rural areas isn’t easy.
“The most logical choice to consolidate police servics is with Sebewaing, but they are in a different county,” she said. “They are dispatched out of Huron (county).”
The village of Sebewaing is about six miles away from Unionville.
The other communties are Gagetown, Akron, and Fairgrove which 12 or more miles away. Gagetown has a part-time police department. The villages of Akron and Fairgrove, and Fairgrove Township share police services.
Mary Drier is a staff writer for the Tuscola County Advertiser. She can be reached at drier@tcadvertiser.com.