People calling 911 in East Hampton Town won't notice a change, but come Jan. 1, for the first time in decades, calls coming from outside of East Hampton Village will be handled from the town police headquarters instead of from the village's Emergency Services Building.
The shift is a result, at least in part, of tough negotiations between the two municipalities on the cost of the service.
East Hampton Village budgeted $3.6 million for the dispatch center in the 2024-25 fiscal year. By providing the fire and emergency medical service dispatch for the town, Sag Harbor Village, and three fire districts – Amagansett, Montauk, and Springs – the village recouped $1 million of the cost. That meant village residents, who were responsible for 20 to 25 percent of the calls, were paying $2.6 million, an outsized percentage of the cost. Five-year contracts, last negotiated during Covid, were set to expire on Jan. 1, 2026.
In February, the village proposed a five-year contract that would have had the town paying more than $1 million a year to transfer police-related calls from village dispatch to the town. The town rejected that and also turned down a subsequently proposed 10-year contract that began at $800,000, with a 3-percent increase each year.
(A $3,764,268 contract between the village and town for the Northwest Fire Protection District and the East Hampton Water Supply District is separate from the dispatch agreement.)
The village employs 17 dispatchers, and a handful are set to retire. It could have either filled those spots with new hires and asked the town to help cover some of the associated costs, or the town could become the main public safety answering point, or P.S.A.P.
"After months of negotiations failed to result in a mutually beneficial agreement, the town has made the request of Suffolk County to become the primary P.S.A.P. for the Town of East Hampton, with all wireless calls and town resident landline calls routed into the East Hampton Town dispatch center," the town announced Monday. The village will continue to be the primary safety answering point for calls originating in its jurisdiction.
Instead of paying more to the village, the town will expand its own dispatch capabilities. At its April 2 meeting, the town board hired five new dispatchers for $58,129 annually each, not including benefits. On April 21, it announced it had reached a new contract with the dispatcher union that begins on Jan. 1, lining up the start of the contract with the end of the village dispatch service.
In its announcement, the town said it expects this plan to save taxpayers "more than $2.5 million over 10 years."
The village worked out two-year contracts to continue to serve as the fire and E.M.S. dispatcher for Amagansett, Montauk, and Sag Harbor. The Springs Fire Department, however, has yet to respond to the village, so it is unclear if it will opt to make use of the town's dispatch center for its fire and E.M.S. calls.
This will be the first time that the town will be handling fire and E.M.S. calls from its headquarters.
"There have been inquiries made to the town by some of the fire districts regarding the potential for East Hampton Town police dispatch to provide full fire and E.M.S. dispatch services beginning in 2026," the town said. "The town is currently evaluating those requests and assessing what would be required to provide such services, including coordination with state and county agencies that oversee 911 call routing and emergency communications."
"This has been a longstanding burden on village taxpayers and we were at a crossroads," Village Mayor Jerry Larsen said. "The village will still be acting as primary P.S.A.P. for village residents. It's not like we're going out of business. We're happy they're taking the 911 calls. We think it will distribute the workload much better between the two municipalities. We think it will work well, and we will work with them as much as we can during the transition."
"We have initiated the formal process of requesting Suffolk County and New York State, [which] oversee and administer the 911 system, to conduct a review of the terms and technical conditions of this transition," Chief Michael Sarlo of the town police wrote in an email. "We anticipate an approval with appropriate measures taken by January 1st of 2026, and are confident of a smooth transition with no interruption or changes in the services provided to the residents and our emergency services providers."
Since the inception of the 911 service in the 1990s, the village dispatch center, located in the Emergency Services Building, was the main public safety answering point for town and village residents.
There are two components to a 911 call. First, there is the person who answers the phone. Last year the village call center handled about 12,500 calls. There are more now than in the past. If there is a car accident, it is likely called in by many passing motorists, thanks to cellphones.
If a police call originates outside the village, it is immediately routed to the town's Police Department. If it is a fire or E.M.S. call, it is handled by the village dispatcher. The village also handles its own police calls. Now the town dispatch will receive all the initial 911 calls and transfer fire and E.M.S. calls for the two fire districts and Sag Harbor Village back to the village dispatch, instead of the other way around.
"Ultimately, this is a win-win for village residents," said Marcos Baladron, the East Hampton Village administrator. "Either receive compensation that recoups our significant 911 operational expenses, or the town takes their 911 calls, allowing the village to responsibly scale back our dispatch operations through retirements as call volume lessens next year."
"There will be no change in the public's experience when dialing 911," Chief Sarlo said in the town's release. "Your call will still be answered quickly and professionally, and we'll work diligently to maintain the same high level of response. The safety of our residents and visitors remains our highest priority."
