It’s expensive to run a police department.

There’s payroll and benefits for the officers and ancillary staff; there is purchase and upkeep of vehicles, and communication equipment and software. There are rising costs for insurances, office supplies, facility upkeep, utilities — and the list goes on and on.

And with reduced state revenue coupled by declining population and tax base in many areas, we consistently have stated our belief that regionalized efforts or outsourced services to create countywide efforts make sense.

Previously, we have argued in favor of regionalization in some areas of local public education. We often see areas in local government where combined services can make sense for road repairs or infrastructure upgrades. And yes, it can make sense in cases of small police departments. Sometimes police services can be consolidated with neighboring departments or taken over by larger countywide departments without slowing response times or compromising public safety for residents, businesses and visitors.

Some Hubbard Township officials have said contracting with the sheriff’s office would be less expensive. Trustee Fred Hanley previously has said Hubbard Township police’s annual payroll has increased from $480,000 to $611,000 this year mostly for wages, benefits and increased insurance costs, and if the township goes with the sheriff’s office, it would save $200,000 per year.

Specifically, a public safety contract with the county sheriff’s office would cost about $890,000 per year, but operations of a local police department is estimated at about $1.2 million per year.

We think Hubbard Township officials are not wrong to consider ways to cut costs, including looking at the possibility of outsourcing or merging police services.

However, what we don’t like is the shroud of secrecy that has surrounded the trustees’ consideration and their communications with the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office without cluing in the taxpayers earlier of these considerations.

The idea should have been presented openly and honestly to residents who headed to the polls in May and approved two 1.75-mill levies — one a renewal and one an additional — to fund safety forces.

Despite the levies’ passage, documents requested and obtained recently by this newspaper indicate that as early as July — just two months after the issues passed — trustees were trading correspondence with the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office about the possibility of eliminating the township police department and outsourcing police coverage to the sheriff’s office.

It wasn’t until October when trustees revealed to police during labor contract negotiations that they were considering eliminating the local police department. Fraternal Order of Police union leaders say they had been negotiating in good faith since July, but now believe they were being left in the dark.

Trustee Rick Hernandez tells us he realizes many residents oppose the outsourcing option, and he knows trustees must make “some hard decisions.”

Withholding information from residents and employees is never the answer when it comes to public funds. Trustees must be forthcoming and transparent, and the time to do that is now.

editorial@tribtoday.com