Plymouth Selectboard: Legislators: Require universities to pay host municipalities

To The Daily Sun, 

We, members of the Plymouth Selectboard, write on behalf of the Town of Plymouth to request that legislators sponsor legislation requiring universities to compensate host municipalities for police services when they choose not to maintain their own campus police departments. 

This is not a theoretical concern. Plymouth State University dissolved its campus police force, shifting public safety responsibility to the Plymouth Police Department. Our officers now respond to campus calls, patrol grounds, and cover a student population of thousands ― none of it budgeted for, none of it approved by Plymouth's taxpayers. 

We negotiated a 30-month agreement with PSU to cover these costs. When it expires, the university has no legal obligation to renew or compensate Plymouth in any form. Our taxpayers could be left funding a campus police force with no say and no remedy. 

PSU operates inside our town, on our roads, using our emergency services. When it eliminated its police force, those costs didn't stay on campus ― they moved to Plymouth's budget and Plymouth's property taxpayers. Other communities are one institutional decision away from the same situation. 

We ask legislators to act. A state law requiring university compensation would give municipalities a floor to stand on. Our current agreement is temporary. The financial exposure when it ends is not. 

We can provide data, testimony, or whatever else would help move this forward. 

Maryann Barnsley 

Philip LaMoreaux

Jason Neenos

Zachary Tirrell

Ted Wisniewski

Plymouth