Agenda - Council - 09/25/2018 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilmember Kuzma proposed that the Council support option two as he believes that it is important to provide the police department with the needed number of officers to respond to the calls for service, noting that the impact to tax payers is a minimal difference. Councilmember Johns stated that she would agree with using the PIR funds as a one-time method of funding but would not support use of that fund on a continued basis. Councilmember Shryock stated that it does make her a bit nervous to add the second officer because the City will not have the use of PIR funds in the future to offset the cost. She stated that she would prefer option three at this time. Councilmember Riley confirmed his consensus with option three. Acting Mayor LeTourneau stated that he is more aligned with option three but would select option two in order to provide flexibility for that second officer position or perhaps an option 3A. Councilmember Johns confirmed her agreement with option three or 3A. The consensus of the Council was to select option 3A, which is to hire two police officers (one starting October 1, 2019), using the PIR fund and using the levy amount of option 3, meaning that about $30,000 related to the October 1 hiring of the second officer needs to come from cuts in other line items in the budget. Finance Director Lund clarified that once the preliminary levy is set, the amount could be lowered prior to final certification in December but could not be raised. City Administrator Ulrich noted that an option 3A could be provided as well, which could include flexibility to add a second officer in a later quarter of 2019. Councilmember Riley stated that if that second officer is added he would like to see where funds could be cut to support that addition. Councilmember Shryock stated that if the Council feels that safety is important, then perhaps the requested police and fire positions are added, and an office position is not added in exchange. She asked why those positions were not bumped to the top of the list. Councilmember Riley stated that the Council asked staff to prioritize the positions and the second officer was listed as the last position and therefore it appears that staff has prioritized their requests. He stated that based on the resident survey, residents do feel safe in the community. City Administrator Ulrich stated that the staff recommendation was made by him. He acknowledged that a second officer is inevitable but did not believe that there would be a large impact if that position is not added in January of 2019. He stated that other areas of the City are also important, and the support staff is also needed to ensure that the City is able to continue City Council Work Session / August 28, 2018 Page 5 of 8