TUPPER LAKE — A village board trustee wants the town to pay more toward its contract for Tupper Lake Police Department services outside the village lines, but the interim town supervisor and members of his board say they want him to go about asking in a more “professional” way.

Trustee Ron LaScala’s renewed effort to change the contract price comes because of two factors — the board was expected to vote on the village budget (which is over the tax levy cap) Friday evening, and TLPD Chief Eric Proulx’s announcement Wednesday that his department is cutting its nighttime patrol shift due to a lack of active officers. Board members decided not to vote on the budget Friday.

LaScala says the village “subsidizes” police presence in the town. Proulx said 5% of TLPD’s calls are into the town.

“If you look at the call volume in the town, they’re not paying what they’re supposed to, but it’s not far off,” he said.

Last year, Mayor Paul Maroun calculated 5% of the TLPD budget to cost around $60,000, around twice what the town currently pitches into the police contract. Maroun asked the town board to raise its contributions to that dollar amount.

“I don’t think that’s an unfair request,” Proulx said.

The board declined to raise the contribution.

The contract was originally for $25,000. Two years ago, the town agreed to a $4,000 increase in the contract. Another increase to the town’s police contribution would increase town taxes, too. Interim town Supervisor Mary Fontana said her board would have to ask town taxpayers what they want to do. She said town leaders are “stewards of the town and its taxpayers.”

Fontana is also a village resident.

LaScala said the village is using the police department as a “piggy bank,” taking money out of it to avoid cuts in the rest of its budget. The department has cut four positions in recent years, he said.

Trustee Jason McClain said town contribution is not the only issue. If the department had more money it would still struggle to hire from a limited applicant pool anyway, he said.

Proulx is also skeptical that increased town contribution would actually help much.

LaScala said if the department paid more, it might attract more candidates, and keep the ones it has. TLPD pays less than other law enforcement jobs.

“It’s very rare that someone leaves a job solely for the pay,” Fontana said.

But Proulx said the majority of the officers that leave his department leave “solely for salary.”

LaScala said the village needs to give officers a reason to move to Tupper Lake, and taking a pay cut to move isn’t helping. He said it is on the town to help fund the police department because it’s struggling and the village can’t support it the way it needs to.

Fontana said she understands this, but she believes the TLPD’s staffing shortages are not the fault of the town.

She said the way she understands the contract, is that it is not for police services rendered. She said it exists to give the police authority to enter the town in the event of a call, but the price of the contract is monetary compensation, essentially a “thank you” for responding to emergencies outside of village lines.

For years, the village police department worked in the town. Eventually, as laws became more detailed, the village decided it needed to put this authorization of jurisdiction into writing. At first, Proulx said he was told not to patrol or do investigations in the town — only emergency response.

Maroun, LaScala and Proulx said they are now getting letters from town residents asking for patrols and investigations outside the village.

Fontana said in six years on the town board she’s never heard a desire of town residents to have more police patrol and investigation outside the village. She said she’s open to having this discussion, but the town board would need to see letters from town residents showing that they want that.

Proulx said the law says the TLPD can patrol in town, but does not have to. Maroun said they have a legal obligation to patrol the town.

“The law is clear. If you enter into a contract with a township that doesn’t have a police department, you have to do regular patrols,” Maroun said.

The debate over the police contract came to a head at a village board meeting Wednesday. Fontana had attended to discuss the Tupper Lake Field Day event the town is planning.

The event has a focus on first-responder appreciation, town Recreation Department and its Director Laura LaBarge said, with a parade and a raffle to raise money for new TLPD computers.

Proulx said his department is able to work the parade route to close off the roads, but every active officer he has — all four — will be working.

LaScala used the visit to segue into the police contract issue. He said he finds it ironic that the town is putting on a parade honoring law enforcement where they’ll all have to work overtime and that the town hasn’t been increasing its funding of the police like the village has asked.

“You’ve got to step up to the plate when it comes to emergency services, not just have a parade,” LaScala said to Fontana.

“The conversation about the police contract is not one to have tonight,” Fontana said. “It’s a conversation for your board to have with mine when we plan our budget.”

The discussion soon got heated, to the chagrin of the rest of the village board.

Maroun tapped his gavel on the table and called for order.

“We are moving ahead,” he said.

Fontana later said she sort of expected LaScala to bring the police contract up, but had told the village she was not coming to discuss the contract.

“That’s not a conversation for me to have independently from my board,” Fontana said on Thursday.

Maroun said on Thursday that LaScala was “out of order.”

“His approach and his tactics for bringing that up were extremely inappropriate,” Fontana said later. “I don’t feel that he represented his position or the village appropriately.”

She said the town is willing to have conversations, but they need to be professional and in the right setting.

LaScala said for eight years he’s fought to get the town to pay what he sees as its “fair share.”

“It just falls on deaf ears,” he said.

He feels his board doesn’t want to talk about this either and said he’s frustrated. He said any change now will have come “too late” as the village has lost out on millions of dollars over the years and the department has shrunk.

He said village should “pull the plug” at some point — reject the $29,000 and never send police into the town.

Maroun said he is not considering this.