(File Photo: Caption for Photo: police car lights at night in city with selective focus and bokeh background blur, Credit for Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images/iStockphoto/z1b)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver County, PA) The three-man Marion Township Board of Supervisors voted to disband its part-time police department yesterday, citing rising costs and the advantages that come with having a full-time department. 

The agreement is effective January 1st, 2027. 

According to monthly reports, Marion officers have provided roughly 80 hours per week of coverage for the past several years, responding to 25 to 30 of the typical 40 calls that come into the township each month. 

The officers had lobbied to save their department despite the supervisors admitting they could not pay what the officers were actually worth. 

However, Marion Township Supervisor Dean Davis stated that the 850-person town did not have the tax base to sustain a force any longer.

Davis added that taxes would have to rise to keep that department on and equip the officers with guns, vehicles and other tools.

Under this new agreement, he noted that the township will save approximately $20,000 per year for the next five years, which includes $27,000 next year, without affecting the times for response.

The money will now be set aside while Marion township studies the impacts of this new arrangement.