Police budget holds hiring; chiefs say current staffing workable but limits remain
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Summary
The proposed police budget includes no new hires, a 1% cost-of-living adjustment for most ranks and 3% step increases; the police chief said cuts removed planned fleet purchases and other items to close a budget gap, and the department is operating with 7/7/6 patrol coverage across shifts.
At the Fairview budget workshop the police department’s budget was presented as a maintenance-level proposal with no new hires and targeted pay adjustments. City Manager Tom Daugherty said the proposed budget includes a 1% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for lower grades and a 3% step increase across the board; the COLA will not apply to higher management grades. "The 1% COLA adjustment will be for people below captain's rank," Daugherty said.
Police leadership told the board they had asked for additional personnel in earlier drafts but pulled those requests when the initial wish list left the budget roughly $1.2 million in the red. The chief said staffing for patrol will be 7 officers on two daytime shifts and 6 on the midnight shift, and that with current ranks "we'll have 7, 7, and 6." He said the department can sustain that configuration for now but noted the need to revisit staffing when revenues allow. "In the future, we do need to address the... staffing," the chief said.
To close the gap, the chief said planned fleet purchases were cut from the operating budget and the drug fund operations were reduced by 34%; overall the operating budget is about 6% lower than last year. The chief estimated roughly six or seven new vehicles were put into service across overlapping budgets in the last year, noting supply-chain delays that have stretched delivery timelines. He said smaller equipment reductions included the completion of a red-dot sighting system for patrol rifles and therefore an $8,000 decrease in firearms equipment.
The budget also includes a planned electronic-citation rollout tied to a grant (listed in the packet as a THSO grant); the city manager said the grant would offset roughly $23,500 in computer equipment and software for in-car printer and e-citation hardware.
Why it matters: the department will operate with no new sworn officers under the proposed budget, which may slow progress toward target staffing levels. The chief said the department does not currently meet some National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards for fire staffing (discussed later with the fire chief), but for policing the department leaders described the budget as "workable" given current revenue projections.
No formal board vote or hiring decision was made at the workshop; Daugherty and department heads said they would re-open hiring if revenues materially improve.
