The regional crime lab, however, has developed a new fee structure that, while including some price hikes right now, ensures it will remain financially viable moving forward and hopefully should keep a lid on future costs, said Ken Betz, director of the Miami Valley Regional Crime Lab.
“The crime laboratory cannot compete with free,” he said. “But what’s happened is that we’ve got a commitment from Montgomery County commissioners, the city of Dayton and others that this laboratory is not going anywhere.”
RELATED: Miami Valley Regional Crime Lab's future at risk
This week, Dayton city commissioners approved two contracts with the regional crime lab for forensic lab and fingerprint data storage and retrieval services.
The forensic services agreement is for $491,773. The fingerprint services contract is for $93,780.
The fees the city will pay are up 10 percent over this year. In past years, the city's annual fees rose between 2 and 3 percent.
The large jump comes after a cost study that Montgomery County’s office of management and budget completed at the request of Dayton-area mayors and city managers, officials said.
The office came up with a new fee structure based on jurisdictions’ use of the lab, Betz said, and Dayton saw the largest increase because it has the largest caseload volume.
The county decided it will continue to provide subsidies for jurisdictions within the county to operate the lab, but subsidies for all others will be eliminated, Betz said. The lab will receive $594,517 next year in subsidies, an increase of 2.5 percent.
“The new rate structure is based on a proportional share of usage of the crime lab over the past five years,” said Amy Wiedeman, assistant Montgomery County administrator. “This was done to ensure the long-term financial stability of the regional crime lab.”
This year, the lab served about 44 agencies from outside of the county’s borders, more than 30 of which are switching in favor of the state lab to avoid fee hikes. Law enforcement agencies that have switched over to the state’s services include Warren County, Beavercreek and Fairborn.
In 2016, the crime also lab also had 21 member agencies from inside the county. That is expected to fall to 17 next year.
But Betz said the lab’s budget has stabilized because of fee modifications, the elimination of a few open positions and other changes. The forensic crime lab’s budget is $2.58 million next year, down nearly $83,000 from this year, according to the county’s other funds budget. This does not include fingerprint services.
“This crime laboratory, in essence, will be a Montgomery County crime laboratory,” Betz said. “2017 is a transition year for us, and I think it brings long-term stability for staff.”
The county has developed an a la carte pricing structure — a fee-for-service option — that will complement the lab’s baseline operating budget, he said.
The state lab does not offer certain tests, such as those for touch DNA, rapid drug identification, toxicology and ballistic imagery, officials said. The local lab expects to provide these services to jurisdictions that have or will switch over to the state.
Dayton officials said they were concerned by the large fee increase and will monitor the situation to control costs. The city’s contract is month-to-month. Until last year, the city had agreements that covered the entire year.
The crime lab provides convenient, comprehensive, responsive and high quality services that are necessary to solving crimes in a timely fashion, said police Chief Richard Biehl.
“They provide great service … and their accessibility is just remarkable,” he said. “Literally, I can walk right next door and talk to the coroner or lab director if there is an urgent matter I need help on.”
Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley said it would be “ridiculous” for police to have to ship all evidence to London, Ohio, for testing and analysis. London is home to the closest Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation lab.
The state has undermined regionalization efforts by offering free crime lab services for smaller communities, but not for Ohio’s larger cities, Whaley said. State officials have said their labs cannot handle the caseloads of Dayton and Ohio’s other biggest metros.
“When we have opportunities to work together, it can be cheaper for everyone overall,” she said. “But now people can opt out of that, it makes the prices go up for places like Dayton and other cities that value the speed of justice.”
Sign up for Newsletters
Want more news? Sign up for newsletters to get more of the Dayton Daily News delivered to your inbox.
About the Author