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New Canaan police seek flat staffing budget; IT licensing and taser replacement drive rising costs
Summary
Police Chief presented an FY27 operating request driven largely by salaries and newly transferred IT licensing costs, plus capital asks including three vehicles and a large taser replacement program after vendor Axon sunsetted the current model.
The New Canaan Police Department presented its FY27 budget to the town council’s Board of Finance subcommittee on Feb. 6, focusing on personnel costs, newly absorbed IT licensing, and equipment replacement needs. The department listed an animal control request of $93,004.91 and a separate dog‑fund request of $22,009; auditors had recommended the dog fund be restored as a separate account rather than reside in the general fund because license fees are received and spent on specific animal‑control functions.
Police Chief said the department’s operating request (presented in the slides as 8.373) is driven largely by salaries — roughly 87% of the total — and noted that the department now staffs 50 sworn officers after adding school resource officers. "We increased from 47 sworn officers to 50," the chief said, adding that new officers must complete a roughly six‑month police academy followed by two to three months of field training.
The department attributed most of its year‑over‑year growth to service‑contract and licensing costs that were transferred from the town IT budget. "These are all things that we took from town IT that were never in our budget before," the chief said, and the presentations showed the service‑contract line rising about 92% to roughly $250,000. Members noted the police figure includes one‑time setup fees (for example, Microsoft account migration costs) that may not recur and asked that town IT’s budget reflect corresponding reductions.
On capital, the department requested $300,000 for three fully outfitted patrol vehicles (purchase, upfit, radios and lights). The chief also flagged a sharp increase in taser spending: the department estimated last year’s taser budget at $17,000 and said the FY27 request is about $150,000 because vendor Axon "is sunsetting the model that we currently have" and the department must purchase supported replacements.
The chief emphasized the state requirement for body‑worn cameras and in‑car recording systems, calling it "pretty much an unfunded mandate" for municipalities.
Council members asked how enforcement of a proposed leaf‑blower ordinance would be handled; the chief said enforcement would follow the same approach as the town noise ordinance, relying first on voluntary compliance and responses to complaints.
Next steps: department leaders and finance staff will refine one‑time versus ongoing costs before the full council budget hearing, and members requested clearer alignment between IT reductions in the central IT budget and the new charges appearing in the police operating lines.
