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Emergency Communications Center warns $1.1M reduction would slow hiring; tech fixes expected to improve 311 performance in 12–18 months
Summary
ECC Director Bill Vidra told council the department met its 911 call-taking staffing benchmark for the first time and described performance goals for 911, dispatch and 311; he said a 5.1% cut (about $1.1M) would likely be achieved by holding vacancies and estimated that equates to delaying hiring around six to seven call takers.
The city’s Emergency Communications Center (ECC) briefed the Budget & Finance Committee on staffing, performance measures and how a hypothetical budget reduction could affect operations.
"We take over 300,000 911 calls each year — 327,000 in 2025 — and we measure ourselves against answering 90% of those within 15 seconds," said Bill Vidra, ECC director. He described dispatching measures for high-priority police incidents (an internal target to dispatch 90% within two minutes) and noted data challenges in separating dispatch delays that are within ECC’s control from delays tied to responder availability.
Vidra said ECC had, for the first time, reached full 911 and 311 call-taking staffing in the department’s history and credited training, QA and HR work for improved retention. At the same time, he cautioned that continuing to meet customer-service targets for the city’s 311 ("301" in presentation) system depends on backend technology maintained by the Cincinnati Area Geographic Information Systems Consortium (CAGES). "We're probably about a year, year and a half from seeing some improvements to the pieces that will help make some reds potentially more green," Vidra said.
On the budget side, Vidra said a 5.1% reduction scenario equates to "a bit over $1,100,000" at the department level and that the savings would most likely be achieved by holding vacancies that open when staff are promoted. He estimated that total would roughly equal delaying hire of six to seven new call takers plus holding some vacant administrative positions.
Council members asked whether, in the event of cuts, the department would prioritize filling 911 positions over 311 roles. Vidra said the department’s internal promotions and workforce movements make the exact vacancy profile fluid but that the reduction scenario would be implemented where vacancies naturally occur. He also described the intake mix for service requests (about half from self-service platforms such as the mobile app and website, a visible share from community responder teams, and the remainder via phone to call takers) and acknowledged constituent reports that tickets are sometimes closed before the underlying problem is fixed.
Vidra highlighted accomplishments including the addition of a chat option on the 311 site, stronger quality-assurance processes (targeting 3% of 911 calls for review), and the proactive work of community responders who accounted for roughly 10% of service requests in the most recent month cited.
The committee did not take a formal vote; members asked ECC and performance staff for additional neighborhood-level response-time breakdowns and for follow-up on unresolved closed tickets.
