New Haven is facing a double hit to its budget over the next two years as changes in radio technology and federal mandates force the city to replace most of its radio equipment used by police, firefighters and paramedics.

The city is looking to spend $300,000 on public safety radio equipment over the next two years as it continues to grapple with sagging income tax revenue and property tax caps that also limit the amount of money the city receives.

But New Haven is not the only community facing radio upgrades – and the related expenses – in the area.

Four northeast Indiana counties have opted to switch to the newer 800-megahertz technology instead of upgrading their older, but cheaper VHF equipment. And the federal mandate will also affect Allen County’s emergency warning sirens.

The New Haven Police Department uses the Allen County-Fort Wayne 800-megahertz radio system, which is computer-based. The county and city of Fort Wayne are planning a $24.5 million radio system overhaul because replacement parts are no longer available for the system’s backbone equipment.

Many of the radios New Haven police carry, plus the few used by the fire department, will need to be reprogrammed or replaced.

Meanwhile, the New Haven-Adams Township Fire & EMS Department will need to replace almost all of its radio equipment, and some pagers, to comply with a new federal mandate.

The fire department uses an older radio technology known as VHF and the Federal Communications Commission has said that by January 2013 all VHF equipment must be able to operate on a smaller range of frequencies – what area fire officials say is a push for departments to switch to the newer 800-megahertz technology.

Costly upgrades

The FCC plans to reduce the range of frequencies available to public safety agencies, and the VHF equipment some fire departments use must be what is called “narrow-band capable.”

Reducing the range of frequencies allows more users on the VHF spectrum such as private utilities or public safety agencies with less interference to improve communications, said Robert Kenny, a spokesman for the FCC.

But reducing the range of frequencies also is a way to push public safety agencies to use the digital 800-megahertz system, said Don Patnoude, president of the Allen County Fire Chief’s Association.

“The big issue is: How long will the FCC allow us to remain on the VHF system?” Patnoude said.

Switching fire departments in Allen County to the 800-megahertz system is cost prohibitive. A hand-held radio costs several thousand dollars, against $700 or $800 for a VHF handheld, Patnoude said.

But the 800 system has other drawbacks for local firefighters. The radio signals can’t trigger the pagers needed to call volunteers to a fire. Also the digital signals don’t always penetrate basements or concrete buildings like schools, Patnoude said.

Improving coverage could cost millions to add towers and other infrastructure – improvements that are currently being considered, he said.

“The single biggest hurdle is the money aspect,” Patnoude said.

Patnoude’s department, Southwest Fire District, has gradually replaced hand-held radios, pagers and base station radios over the years so little equipment will need to be purchased to meet the new mandate. Patnoude expects to pay about $7,500 to complete the upgrade.

St. Joseph Township Fire has enough money in the township’s fire savings fund to cover the $50,000 to $75,000 needed to upgrade its VHF equipment. As much as half of the equipment won’t meet the mandate, Chief Jim Berger said.

And Northeast Fire could spend $20,000 to $40,000 to upgrade what little equipment won’t meet the mandate. Revenue from the townships and towns the territory serves or fundraisers would likely cover the expense, Chief Fred Spannuth said.

But for New Haven Fire, three-fourths of its radio equipment plus components for the city’s eight tornado sirens will need to be replaced, Fire Chief John Bennett said.

Add in the cost to upgrade the 800 radios used mainly by New Haven police, and the city is looking to spend $300,000 on radio equipment in 2011 and 2012, Bennett said.

The estimated cost is about what the city lost from the property tax caps this year – $294,931. The city is working from a $5.2 million general fund budget in 2010.

The city will likely have to borrow the money to pay for the equipment. A property-tax-supported fire fund could help repay the bond, Bennett said.

Adams Township taxpayers also help fund the fire department.

Rural counties go high tech

Whitley County is the only other county in the region without plans to switch to the 800-megahertz system, and departments there will have to make some small equipment purchases to comply with the federal mandate, Columbia City Fire Chief Tom LaRue said.

LaRue said his department was lucky – its supplier saw the mandate coming and made sure the department swapped out older VHF equipment for the newer VHF technology. But other departments could face a problem similar to New Haven’s, although on a smaller scale, he said.

Although fire chiefs in Whitley County have discussed switching to the 800-megahertz system, it’s not likely to happen because it lacks a paging system, LaRue said.

Fire departments in Wells, Adams, and Noble have made the switch with the help of federal funding that paid 80 percent of the equipment and installation costs.

Huntington County fire departments together received an almost $500,000 federal grant this spring and are in the midst of converting to the new system. DeKalb County fire departments have applied for the same grant. And Steuben County uses both radio types of systems but primarily uses the VHF system, fire officials said.

Most Kosciusko County fire departments will likely remain on the VHF system, but Warsaw Fire plans to migrate to the newer technology by 2013, Warsaw Fire Chief Mike Rice said.

aiacone@jg.net