Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety School Safety Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Macon-Bibb Commission approves $3 million for school safety, officer recruitment
Summary
The Macon-Bibb County Commission voted unanimously in April to appropriate $2 million to boost recruitment and retention for public safety officers and $1 million to the Bibb County School District for student resource officers and crosswalk improvements, using the sponsor programs school safety line item.
At a regular April meeting, the Macon-Bibb County Commission approved two ordinances totaling $3,000,000 from the sponsor programs school-safety line item to support public safety recruitment and school-zone safety measures.
The first ordinance authorizes up to $2,000,000 to be used to recruit and retain public safety officers, including a competitive pay incentive of up to $5,000 per new recruit. The second ordinance authorizes $1,000,000 to the Bibb County School District for hiring student resource officers and improving or installing crosswalks in school zones.
The measures come from the commission's school-safety fund. Commissioners said the money is intended to address hiring and retention needs in law enforcement and to make school zones safer. "This is one of the most important votes and one of the most important things that we have done since I've been here," Commissioner Howell said, describing the recruitment incentive as a tool to attract new deputies.
Commissioners described prior uses of the school-safety funds during the year. The commission said it has spent approximately $8,200,000 of $8,900,000 collected to date from the school-safety line, leaving a balance the commission described as "less than about $600,000." The commission also described recent allocations that include roughly $300,000 to cover 35 crossing guards and purchases such as Knox boxes to allow emergency responders access to schools during emergencies.
Mayor Pro Tem Clark asked how pending state legislation that could ban the program would affect future funding. Mayor Lester M. Miller replied, "That would be a budget implication and we will address that at the appropriate time." The commission did not amend the approved appropriations in response to that question.
Both ordinances passed unanimously after public discussion and comment. No recorded roll-call tally was provided in the meeting minutes; the chair announced each motion carried unanimously.
The commission directed county staff and relevant agencies to administer the allocations to the sheriff's office and the Bibb County School District as described in the ordinances. The commission did not set an immediate further deadline for implementation in the meeting record.
