Atlantic Beach reviews public-safety budget as officials weigh raises, vehicles and fire agreement

Atlantic Beach commissioners and public-safety leaders on July 28 reviewed the Public Safety Department’s proposed budget, focusing on personnel costs, vehicle purchases and the city’s interlocal agreement with Jacksonville Fire Rescue (JFRD).

Commissioner Killingsworth, who presented the department slides, said the department encompasses nine divisions — including patrol, investigations, emergency communications, animal control, school crossing guards and ocean rescue — and warned that timing on outside contracts can mask underlying changes in spending. “It’s not a decline of $750,000 because that $750,000, the contract’s June to June,” he said, explaining that only part of the JFRD contract payment appears in the current fiscal-year numbers.

The presentation highlighted several line items that drove increases in personnel-service costs, staff said. A miscommunication left the planned step increases out of the initial spreadsheet while a 3% cost-of-living allowance was already embedded, producing roughly a $42,000 difference that will appear across departments when steps are added. Commissioners discussed how combining step changes with the 3% COLA could produce total increases ranging from roughly 5% to 10% for some officers, depending on where they fall in the step schedule.

Budget detail showed $152,000 in capital outlay for two patrol vehicles, which staff estimated at about $75,000 apiece fully equipped. Detective vehicles were described as substantially cheaper because they are not pursuit-rated. Staff also attributed a broader personnel-service increase largely to higher pension contributions tied to prior large compensation adjustments.

Public comment opened the workshop. Tracy Jaboe, a resident, recounted on-the-ground incidents she said illustrate officers’ community value, including an officer arranging keys to avoid a towing or arrest and officers reuniting a homeless, mentally ill man with his mother. Jaboe told commissioners, “The hiring and the maintaining of these officers has a value that … doesn’t end up on a spreadsheet,” urging them to consider that community-impact when evaluating personnel decisions.

Commissioners pressed staff on specific operational items. They confirmed that crossing guards are Atlantic Beach employees paid directly by the city rather than through the Duval County Public Schools system. On the shared fire station, staff and the chief said the interlocal agreement generally assigns interior living quarters and kitchen areas to JFRD and exterior structural and operational elements ("from the sheetrock going out") to the city; commissioners asked staff to return with precise figures on how much the city is reimbursed under the interlocal arrangement.

The chief described recruitment and retention as improving and stressed pension and benefits as key to keeping officers. He said the department recently recruited officers from other counties and out of state and praised the current rank-and-file: “We have a great crew of officers working here,” he said. The chief also said he plans to ask in the coming year to restore a previously cut position, aiming for a department size in the mid-30s to reduce mandatory overtime and expand specialized units that can improve career retention.

Capital and equipment requests included a $120,000 outside air handler for the station and proposals for speed poles (estimated at roughly $8,000–$10,000 each) and a mobile speed-display trailer. Commissioners suggested staff seek grant funding where feasible, though staff cautioned that many federal pots are not yet operational and that administering some grants can cost more than the award’s net benefit for a small agency.

On ocean rescue, staff said the new, larger lifeguard station will likely raise utility and operating costs, with the first-year impact unclear. The workshop closed after commissioners asked staff to return with clarified step-plan effects, exact interlocal reimbursement numbers and more precise estimates on capital and operating impacts; no formal votes were taken.

The workshop adjourned with the commission scheduled to continue budget sessions on Aug. 11 (public utilities) and Aug. 25 (final wrap-up).