During the budget meeting last week, David VanArsdale, Middletown police chief, said overtime will cost his department $550,000, mainly because officers who work second and third shift are required to testify in court.

Middletown Division of Fire Chief Steve Botts said his department will spend about $225,000 in overtime.

Because the city is prepared to slice the public safety budget and reduce the workforce by 22 positions next year, vice mayor Dan Picard, adamant about public safety, suggested eliminating ovetime in both departments as a way to reduce the budget. Instead of working overtime, he suggested police officers and fire fighters should take comp time. The chiefs said that plan isn’t feasible because an employee would have to be called in and paid overtime to cover for the person who is off work.

VanArsdale commended his staff for its “successes” this year, fighting the increased heroin abuse in the city, and its retail task force that netted 116 arrests, 69 for organized crime, and the recovery of $300,000 in merchandise.

Next year the total budget for the police department is expected to drop from $12,146,807 to $11,919,025, or 1.9 percent. Of the 2014 budget, $356,272 comes from the COPS grant.

The fire department budget is dropping from $9,213,175 in 2013 to $9,080,053 next year, a decrease of 1.4 percent. Next year’s budget includes $328,667 from the SAFER grant that expires on Aug. 6, 2014.

The fire department could lose up to 15 positions next year. A SAFER grant that funds six positions is set to expire in August 2014, and according to the budget, nine more positions are expected to be eliminated.

This comes at a time when the department is seeing a record number of emergency calls, Botts said. He said in the 1990s, the department averaged 5,000 calls a year and the that number has risen to 11,000. Botts called this “very challenging, historic times.”

From 2000 to 2014, the police budget has increased $2.6 million or 28 percent, while the fire budget has gone from $7 million to $9 million, or 30 percent.

Meanwhile, the city’s total budget has gone from $27.6 million in 2000 to $29 million in 2014, or an increase of 5 percent.
I find this is a very misleading statement. City Hall used the rainy day fund in order to cover the increases in the budget. The revenues of Middletown continue to fall every year. We are going broke.

Picard also wanted City Manager Judy Gilleland to apply for additional public safety grants to replace those that are expiring. Other council members didn’t support Picard’s motion. Council member Josh Laubach said grants aren’t “free money” because of the restrictions tied to them.

City to buy street sweeper

On a night when council was discussing millions of dollars in the city’s budget, there was much debate over several thousand dollars. Council approved the purchase of a Tymco 600 street sweeper from Contract Sweepers & Equipment of West Chester for $212,509, which was $12,000 more than another model.

Cindy Strayer, the city’s purchasing agent, said less expensive street sweepers were available, but the city’s maintenance crew selected the one from the West Chester company.

Picard questioned why the city didn’t purchase the cheaper model.

Strayer said the decision wasn’t based on dollars and cents, but rather what was “better for us.”

Gilleland said the decision was not “done in favoritism.”