In response to concerns about the impact of the adopted FY 2008-09 budget on the police department, the Mayor asked his staff to conduct a comparative analysis of the submitted and adopted budgets.
The city’s adopted budget increased general fund support for the police department by about $2.8 million in these areas:
- Health insurance ($1,400,000)
- Buy-down health insurance cost ($305,000)
- Gasoline ($600,000)
- Worker’s compensation ($500,000)
Meantime, the adopted budget reduced general fund support by about $1.5 million in these areas:
- Consolidate North Patrol Division with airport police ($1,000,000)
- Police/city consolidations ($500,000)
As a result, the net increase of city’s general fund support to Police Department is about $1.3 million.
The Mayor's staff consulted with city staff and learned that there may be regulation issues with the Aviation Department’s support of general fund costs, specifically Police Department overhead, as is proposed in the adopted budget. Rich Noll has asked Police Department officials to consult with the aviation committee of the Chamber of Commerce and re-work their plan for submittal to the FAA. It is possible that the city may have to allocate additional money to support part of the proposal to consolidate the North Patrol Division with airport police. If this is the case, the net increase of city’s general fund support of Police will be more than $1.3 million.
