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Council debates police cuts: delay cruiser purchases and keep frozen post empty to reduce the budget
Summary
Councilors reviewed police budget reductions that could save roughly $282,000 this year by deferring cruiser replacements and not filling a frozen officer post; the chief cautioned that the moves would reduce proactive services and affect school resource coverage.
Lisbon Falls 2 April 14 2 Councilors spent an extended portion of the April 14 workshop on the police department's budget, weighing capital deferrals and personnel freezes to lower next year's operating needs.
The manager's recommended police operating figure (not including fringe benefits) shown during the meeting was $2,232,601; fringe benefits were discussed separately and estimated around $846,174. Chief Ryan McGee told the council he had proposed reductions that, if adopted, would amount to roughly $282,000 in immediate budget relief: transferring $92,000 in cruiser off-fitting and delaying purchases, and leaving a frozen patrol position unfilled (salary and fringe would save roughly $115,930). "This program has worked great... but I'm willing to give it a try because I understand the predicament the community is in," McGee said, urging caution about service impacts. (Ryan McGee, Chief of Police.)
Councilors debated the operational trade-offs. Several members warned that not filling a patrol position could force redeployment of school resource officers to cover patrol shifts and reduce detective capacity for domestic-violence follow-up and other proactive programs. Councilor Turgeon urged the council to look at outcomes rather than only inputs, and asked for alternative budget models that show which functions could be preserved and which would be cut.
Finance staff and councilors discussed a hybrid approach to cruiser deferral: instead of cutting the full $92,000 at once, the council could remove a portion now and reserve some capital later, or rely on contingency funds for unexpected maintenance. The chief said he would try to rotate lower-mileage vehicles into marked patrol service to manage mileage for another year, but warned the approach carries risk and could increase maintenance in the medium term.
By workshop's end the council indicated majority support to delay the cruiser replacement program for one year and to eliminate the one frozen department position as part of the FY27 balancing plan; both steps were described as recommendations for the final budget, not formal votes taken that night. The chief and finance staff will return final numbers and revised totals before the council adopts the budget.
