NORWICH – Chenango County Sheriff Ernest Cutting did what was anticipated: He asked lawmakers to refill the chief dispatcher position that was left vacant with passage of the 2011 county budget.

The county’s safety and rules committee last week referred the matter of funding the position onto the committee in charge of finance, which meets for the first time this year on Feb. 3.

Lawmakers debated whether the position should have been included within the 2011 budget in the first place. Chenango County Board of Supervisors Chairman Richard B. Decker caused the vacancy when he appointed former chief dispatcher Matthew Beckwith to head the fire and emergency services department.

Cutting suggested that approximately $112,000 in excess revenues taken in from boarding in prisoners last year could be used to fund the position, however he did not estimate a salary. The head dispatcher would oversee a staff of nine in the Chenango County Public Safety Facility’s 911 Emergency Communications Center. The highest paid full time dispatcher currently earns $33,144 plus 35 percent in fringe benefits.