How Much Would You Pay For More Police?

A City County Council Committee is weighing its options on how to generate more revenue to fund public safety, specifically hiring more police officers.

The Fraternal Order of Police says with attrition, the city needs to hire 500 over the next five years to add a net of 250 officers and get the department up to recommended staffing levels.

FOP Vice President Rick Snyder says to do so, the city needs $25 million.

To raise that money, the committee looked at three options - eliminating the local homestead tax credit, increasing the levy freeze rate, and increasing the public safety tax from .35% to .50%.

For some residents, doing all three would mean paying about $120 more per year.

But, Snyder says only one – the public safety tax – is specifically designated for police.

"We have seen the tragic consequences of what's happening in our city," he said.  "If people want to argue, do more officers mean less crime?  I think it's suffice to say no one would suggest that less officers would help out the situation. What I can guarantee you is that unless we take proactive action now, that is exactly what will happen just due to normal attrition."

About 40 percent of IMPD officers are currently eligible to retire and if the city doesn’t take some action, Snyder says the force will drop from about 1,500 to 1,300 in five years.

"Broken down by each week, we are talking about less than the cost of a cup of coffee more in taxes per week," he said.  "Everyone I talk to, when we discuss that point, they go, 'Wow.  This is a no brainer' for 500 more police officers, high visibility police presence, and a sense of safety."

Snyder says sustainable funding also is important for closing IMPD’s ten million dollar deficit.

Mayor Greg Ballard, Department of Public Safety Director Troy Riggs, and some councilors want to eliminate the local homestead tax credit.   Controller Jason Dudich says doing so would generate an additional $7 million for the county that Ballard says could be used for police.

Opponents argue getting rid of the credit puts an added tax burden on some residents about $22 a year on average and will cost schools and libraries hundreds of thousands of dollars.

City County Council President Democrat Maggie Lewis says she gets the feeling residents want to leave the homestead credit intact, but is willing to work with Ballard’s administration to come up with a solution.

However, Lewis says she is disappointed the Mayor’s Office chose not to apply for a federal COPS grant to hire more police.

"It was one of the recommendations from the (police) staffing commission.  When we were in D.C., we were lobbying our federal officials to help us and support us in getting those dollars," said Lewis.  "To hear that the city didn't apply for that is very disappointing."

"It would have helped us get officers for, basically, free for three years and in that fourth year we'd have to figure out how to we'd fund them, but we have three years to figure that out.  So, I'm very disappointed that we did not apply for those dollars," she added.

The Ballard administration says the city needs a more sustainable funding source.

The Mayor is scheduled to unveil his 2015 budget August 18, which will be followed by a series of hearings.

Ballard also is planning what his office calls a "major public safety" announcement Wednesday, downtown.