Fayetteville council to take up 1-mill tax increase to hire 23

FAYETTEVILLE -- The City Council could vote as soon as Tuesday on a property tax increase to pay for about two dozen new police officers, firefighters and other city employees.

Paul Becker, the city's chief financial officer, presented the proposal earlier this month to raise the city's millage from 3.1 mills to 4.1, bumping the city's tax bill for a $150,000 home from $93 a year to $123. The city essentially needs more people to handle more work, which means it needs a new revenue stream to cover the positions, Becker said.

"We've added very, very few positions in the last roughly eight years," he said Friday. "Mayor Jordan and the City Council have made it clear their No. 1 priority here at the city and in the future would be public safety. This is to address what we feel is our No. 1 need."

The additions would include an 11-member company in the fire department, eight officers on the police force and one position each in the prosecutor's office, budget and information systems, parks maintenance and building safety, Becker said. Of those 23, six positions exist but have been kept unfilled to save money. The millage increase would bring in about $1.37 million to cover the bunch.

For comparison, the city plans to spend about $145 million for operations and salaries for about 700 employees this year.

The proposal is slated for discussion during Tuesday's regular City Council meeting; a vote on it then is possible, but measures like this typically get discussed for at least a meeting or two, Becker said. A final decision must come by the end of October in order to slot it into Washington County's year-end millage ordinance.

Police Chief Greg Tabor said Friday his need for more officers is clear to see in the department's response statistics in recent years. In the second quarter of 2014, the department counted 39 times an officer was not available for the most urgent, Priority 1 calls, a so-called Code Zero. At those times, supervisors tell busy officers to drop what they're doing.

Code Zeros have risen steadily since, reaching 52 in this year's first quarter, Tabor said. Response times also have been edging upward as call volume has surpassed 42,300 a year.

"Since the economy started turning around, our calls have started going back up," said Tabor, who oversees a 120-officer force. "Our Code Zeros are increasing, and our response time is above our goal of 5 minutes."

The new officers would comprise a new beat, or patrol zone in the city, splitting up the growing call volume, Tabor said. He would also add a motorcycle officer to respond to accidents and other traffic-related problems, which are particularly time-consuming.

"That relieves everybody else on patrol," Tabor said.

The new fire company would help deal with similar issues, Fire Chief David Dayringer said. The police and fire departments last added employees about a decade ago; the city's population has gone up about 15 percent since then, according to the U.S. Census.

More calls and longer response times means more property and life lost, Dayringer said. Firefighters respond to some 10,000 calls a year, up about a third from 2010.

The company would be placed at an existing station, he said, adding more information would come during Tuesday's meeting.

NW News on 09/12/2015