The incremental cost to operate the two R-44's for the one small community that I was told of was very low. This was the direct operating cost, and represented about 20% of the total cost for all the communities in the consortium that operated the machines. The communities did not include the cost of the officer's salaries, as they would have been employed anyway.
The annual cost for this small city was $65,000 (sixty five thousand, in case anyone thought I was missing some zeros).
It was a no-brain decision.