Budget favors police, Little Rock city manager says

With public safety being Little Rock's main priority, other items in the city's budget for next year will likely have to be cut, minimized or postponed, City Manager Bruce Moore told elected officials this week.

City staff and board members met in a daylong work session Thursday to go over the needs and wants of each city department for next year. The departments' wish lists totaled almost $18,330,000.

Moore was quick to explain that the items were merely wishes and not guaranteed to be funded in the 2018 budget, which he will present to the Board of Directors for review and approval next month.

"You will see each department's wish list -- and that's what it is. When you get out of the public safety area, it's a wish list. I think it's important that the board knows what the needs are, but there are some things you won't see in the 2018 budget," he said.

The Little Rock Police Department's needs, however, are likely to be included.

"We are going to be having to make sacrifices in the short term to try to get some of these things implemented," Moore said of the police list.

"I think this board has been very clear, and myself also, that public safety is our No. 1 priority. So, when we say that and implement these things, there are some other things we are not going to be able to do in the short term," Moore said. "I've said that to our departments. We pretty much have a hiring freeze in our organization at this point except for critical positions."

Asked for specifics after the meeting, Moore said he hasn't yet finalized his budget proposal and wasn't at a point to answer such questions. But he did note that the 2017 budget was balanced with more than $2 million in one-time funds that aren't available for next year.

The city recently refinanced park bonds at a 20.9 percent costs savings and is expected to pay $1.5 million less in debt service next year, which will help Moore and finance staff members better present a balanced 2018 budget, he said.

Included on Police Chief Kenton Buckner's list for 2018 funding are incentives for the 75 police recruits that are scheduled to graduate from the academy next year. The $562,500 listed includes a $5,000 bonus that recruits receive upon graduating and an incentive for new officers to buy or rent a home in Little Rock if they don't already live in the city.

The incentives are part of an attempt to get the department up to full staff. The Little Rock Police Department is authorized to have 590 officers, but its job vacancies in those ranks have hovered around 60 for several years.

The department also needs a new payroll specialist, to the tune of $40,500 a year, and funds to pay for more overtime work. Buckner implemented a mandatory overtime schedule in August that puts an additional 45 officers on the street for each 12-hour period.

The increased patrols have coincided with a drop in homicides and shootings in the city, but the overtime is expensive. The city has estimated that the overtime costs about $10,000 per day.

Buckner said Thursday that he will switch his officers to 12-hour shifts starting Jan. 1, which will help maintain the beefed-up patrols but reduce the overtime cost.

The Police Department also is adding two new units next year. The Telephone Reporting Unit in the 911 Call Center will add eight clerks, who will help streamline 911 calls. The Traffic Safety Officers Unit will hire 12 civilian employees to handle traffic accidents so police officers can spend more of their time on other matters.

A Police Department employee said Thursday that the department may be able to attract former law enforcement personnel for those positions. Police officers will still have to respond to some traffic calls, but the 12-person unit should help lessen the load, Buckner said.

In all, Buckner is asking for a $1.7 million increase in operating expenses. He is also requesting to spend $1.6 million to replace in-car radios next year because the existing brand the city is using will no longer be serviced by the manufacturer after 2018. He said the department could pay for $1.1 million of that cost with seized funds, but the city manager would have to come up with the other half-million dollars.

Other city departments also requested additional positions, technology upgrades or capital improvements, such as new vehicles and building repairs or renovations.

Metro on 10/14/2017

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