The Miami Twp. trustees and Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office have been in meetings to discuss a possible contract for police services, according to the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, which is calling for the process to include the voice of township citizens.

In a statement released this month, FOP Union President Mike Siney said the FOP had several concerns with the negotiations between the township and the sheriff’s office. Siney said the decision is being made without the input of the FOP or Miami Twp. township residents, and that contracting with the sheriff”s office would diminish the attention currently provided to residents by the Miami Twp. Police Department.

“They contracted out our dispatch department and our fire department, and now they’re trying to do that with our police,” he said. “Our main issue is that we believe citizens should have input.” “Since learning of the secret negotiations, the union has advertised its willingness to sit down at the table with Miami Township Trustees to avert such a drastic change to police service being given to the citizens of Miami Township,” he said in the release.

Earlier this month, the township board of trustees approved police and fire levies for the May ballot, and Trustee Mike Nolan talked about the possibility of contracting for police services. Voters will be asked to approve a 5.25-mill police levy and a 3.5-mill renewal levy for fire services.

If passed, the police levy is expected to raise slightly more than $3 million annually and cost the owner of a $100,000 home $160.78 per year, according to the Montgomery County Auditor’s Office.

Finance Director Joe Fowler said the township was trying to be as fiscally responsible as possible with these levies, “but costs are going up and cars and equipment are costing more.”

“The 3.65-mill police levy that we had on the ballot that we were trying to replace in November just wasn’t getting the job done. Some of those police levies had been reduced over time to reduce the burden on taxpayers,” Fowler said.

In November, the township saw its levies for police and trash services fail. In response, they have been investigating other avenues to provide these services. According to township officials and trustees, no decisions have been made.

One of the options for the police department is to contract with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office for its services. Nolan and Miami Twp. Detective Sgt. Scott Fitzgerald said the township is awaiting a report from the sheriff’s office that will help determine the feasibility of that route.

That report is expected to be completed soon.

Siney noted that he believed contracting with the sheriff ‘s office would not alter the amount paid by taxpayers for their police services - a sentiment echoed by Fitzgerald.

“This is a make-or-break (police) levy,” Fitzgerald said. “This even goes past this police department. If you’re going to pay for the sheriff ‘s department to come in, you have to pay for a contract. This is the real world, and we’re not getting anything for free.”

The township also is considering how to pay for its trash services, which have been funded by two levies and a small amount from the township’s general fund. The trash levy that failed in November expired at the end of 2012, and the second levy is due to expire in 2015.

Miami Twp. Planner Kyle Hinkelman said if trustees decide that residents will negotiate their trash services directly, that the second levy would be removed. The township’s contract with Waste Management ends April 1.

Dayton Daily News Staff Writer Jill Kelley contributed to this report.