NewsHound
07-25-2008, 10:29 PM
The days when crime or accident victims could use a police officer’s cell phone to call loved ones will soon be over.
Advertisement
The Tallahassee Police Department is getting rid of about 140 cell phones used by patrol officers, part of citywide mid-year budget cuts totalling more than $3 million. The cuts are affecting departments across the city, from cuts in training and overtime for firefighters to higher fees and fewer officials for adult sports.
“In the tight fiscal environment we’re in, we’ve got to cut where we can,” said Gary Williams, the financial officer for the Police Department. “The things we’re doing, hopefully the public won’t notice.”
The mid-year budget cuts are the result of falling sales tax and other revenues caused by the slowdown in the economy.
In February, commissioners asked all departments funded through the city’s $135 million General Fund to freeze 5 percent of their expenses for office supplies and travel and training, a savings of $611,000. And on July 1, all departments other than utilities, solid waste and stormwater management were required to freeze 3 percent of whatever remained in their budgets as of May 31. That’s expected to save the city another $2.56 million, said Robert Bechtol, the city’s interim budget manager.
Over the course of the year, the city has also eliminated 62 vacant positions and eliminated take-home privileges for 52 vehicles, among other cuts.
But City Commissioner Mark Mustian, who is running for re-election, said the city’s April 9 decision to give general city employees a 1.5 percent raise half-way through the year didn’t make sense when the city is having to trim elsewhere. The increase is on top of a 2 or 2.7 percent raise, depending on salary, that kicked in on Oct. 1.
“I just think that we’re in a climate where the state employees got no raises at all,” Mustian said. “I wish we could have done that, but I didn’t think we could afford to in this climate.”
Service to patrol officers’ phones will end Thursday, according to a memo written Friday by Police Chief Dennis Jones. Officers have until Aug. 15 to return their phones.
The cut affects patrol officers, not detectives and other personnel, Williams said. The officers had been issued the phones in an effort to improve community service by making them more accessible to the public. Cancelling the cell phone service will save $7,500 over the last two months of the 2008 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, a small part of the $444,000 the department needs to cut overall.
Williams said most of the savings will be achieved by cutting overtime and leaving 10 open positions vacant.
In your voice
Source (http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080725/BREAKINGNEWS/80724018&GID=zhDuVg0Crv6xUY3bnodylTLu2DGi9YbKBdPNpEtFSGg%3D )
Advertisement
The Tallahassee Police Department is getting rid of about 140 cell phones used by patrol officers, part of citywide mid-year budget cuts totalling more than $3 million. The cuts are affecting departments across the city, from cuts in training and overtime for firefighters to higher fees and fewer officials for adult sports.
“In the tight fiscal environment we’re in, we’ve got to cut where we can,” said Gary Williams, the financial officer for the Police Department. “The things we’re doing, hopefully the public won’t notice.”
The mid-year budget cuts are the result of falling sales tax and other revenues caused by the slowdown in the economy.
In February, commissioners asked all departments funded through the city’s $135 million General Fund to freeze 5 percent of their expenses for office supplies and travel and training, a savings of $611,000. And on July 1, all departments other than utilities, solid waste and stormwater management were required to freeze 3 percent of whatever remained in their budgets as of May 31. That’s expected to save the city another $2.56 million, said Robert Bechtol, the city’s interim budget manager.
Over the course of the year, the city has also eliminated 62 vacant positions and eliminated take-home privileges for 52 vehicles, among other cuts.
But City Commissioner Mark Mustian, who is running for re-election, said the city’s April 9 decision to give general city employees a 1.5 percent raise half-way through the year didn’t make sense when the city is having to trim elsewhere. The increase is on top of a 2 or 2.7 percent raise, depending on salary, that kicked in on Oct. 1.
“I just think that we’re in a climate where the state employees got no raises at all,” Mustian said. “I wish we could have done that, but I didn’t think we could afford to in this climate.”
Service to patrol officers’ phones will end Thursday, according to a memo written Friday by Police Chief Dennis Jones. Officers have until Aug. 15 to return their phones.
The cut affects patrol officers, not detectives and other personnel, Williams said. The officers had been issued the phones in an effort to improve community service by making them more accessible to the public. Cancelling the cell phone service will save $7,500 over the last two months of the 2008 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, a small part of the $444,000 the department needs to cut overall.
Williams said most of the savings will be achieved by cutting overtime and leaving 10 open positions vacant.
In your voice
Source (http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080725/BREAKINGNEWS/80724018&GID=zhDuVg0Crv6xUY3bnodylTLu2DGi9YbKBdPNpEtFSGg%3D )