Finance committee reviews police, dispatch and elections-software costs in proposed budget

Brendan O'Connell, the city’s finance director, told the Finance Committee on April 30 that the police department budget shows an 18% increase in expenditures this year, a rise he attributed primarily to recently negotiated labor contracts and added personnel costs. “A significant portion of the increase year over year was related to the contract,” O'Connell said.

The committee heard that about 88% of the police budget is staffing-related. Police Chief Mark DuBois described several technology and equipment-driven cost pressures, including a multi-year contract with Axon for body cameras, Axon Investigate and Fleet 3 in-vehicle cameras, and a contract for Draft 1 software that converts audio into narrative form. “The records management system is really, really difficult. It's just, just doesn't work,” Chief DuBois said, explaining the need for a consultant and a potential replacement RMS/CAD solution.

DuBois also detailed timing and equipment costs that contribute to the spending increase: a double payment for Draft 1 this fiscal year because of contract timing, replacement tasers (roughly $130,000), and a large set of computer upgrades and cruiser devices (about $125,000). He said the department has reduced vacancies substantially over the past year and credited a recruiting contract and renewed outreach for improved applicant numbers.

Committee members pressed staff on camera and data features. Councillor Wes questioned whether the Axon Fleet 3 system's vehicle-camera package — which vendors sometimes promote with an automated license-plate-reader (ALPR) option — could be replaced by a cheaper camera solution without ALPR functionality. DuBois said the city has not activated ALPR and noted interoperability and evidence-management advantages of a single vendor ecosystem: “If we go to different systems, the interoperability would be really tough,” he said, adding the ALPR component itself is budgeted at about $13,000 per year.

The committee also reviewed dispatch services shared with South Portland and Cape Elizabeth. O'Connell said the dispatch budget is up roughly 7% driven by contractual services and the need to replace a computer-aided dispatch/records-management product that has not met needs. He said a consultant will assist a new RFP process for RMS/CAD procurement and explained FTE accounting changes tied to staffing transfers from South Portland.

In the clerk's budget, O'Connell said the city is voluntarily complying with a minimum-wage change for election workers, increasing payroll costs by about $85,000, and it has signed a five-year contract for new clean-elections tracking software that adds roughly $44,000 in annual cost. “We are voluntarily complying with the minimum wage change that happened on 01/01/2026,” O'Connell said. He added the clean-elections system should begin being implemented toward the end of this fiscal year and into the next, and likely will support candidates on this year’s city ballot.

The committee did not take formal votes on departmental budgets during the session; staff said specific amendments (including funding options for a warming shelter) are under discussion and will return for more detailed consideration at a future meeting.

The Finance Committee adjourned at 6:20 p.m.