Oak Park stands to save about $500,000 on dispatch costs in 2027 if two suburbs join the West Suburban Consolidated Dispatch Center.
The Village Board is scheduled to vote Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. on a resolution approving an intergovernmental agreement to expand WestCom, the 911 center that dispatches police, fire and emergency medical services for Oak Park, River Forest and Forest Park. The villages of Rosemont and Elmwood Park are set to join the consortium in 2027, as first reported by the Wednesday Journal.
Chief Financial Officer Kevin Bueso said the net savings for Oak Park will be about $500,000 in 2027, according to the Wednesday Journal. Village Manager Kevin Jackson said the village has been working to expand WestCom for several years and "the work is still not done."
Village President Vicki Scaman called the expansion a win. She, River Forest Village President Cathy Adduci and Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins have been in conversations about the expansion for a long time, the Wednesday Journal reported.
According to the WSCDC website, the dispatch center was formed in 2002 when the Oak Park and River Forest 911 centers merged. Elmwood Park joined in 2004, though the WSCDC site does not list Elmwood Park among its member communities. WSCDC began dispatching for the Park Ridge Police Department in 2014 and for the Forest Park Police and Fire Department in 2017.
