WESTFIELD – The Finance Committee examined the budgets of six major departments last night as it continues its review of the proposed 2014 fiscal year budget.
That review began with the Police Department budget where the committee members expressed concern for several line items which they felt may be insufficient to support departmental operations.
“There is a concern in this budget,” At-large Councilor John J. Beltrandi, a Finance Committee member, said as the discussion began.
Capt. Michael McCabe presented details of funding included in the FY2014 budget package.
McCabe said the biggest potential problem is the line item requested for vehicles. The department has a fleet of 18 line cruisers, as well as 20 other vehicles (quads, utility trailers, motorcycle and other equipment).
The department replaces six cruisers a year at a cost of $30,000 each through a state competitive-bid program.
“The math is simple, six times $30,000 is $180,000,” McCabe said.
Mayor Daniel M. Knapik cut that entire line item for the second year.
McCabe said that the department used reserve funding from the Towing and Storage account, to purchase some vehicles. In April, Knapik requested the City Council to appropriate $212,000, for vehicle capital purchases, from the free cash account. The largest single allocation of that the free cash, $100,000, went to the Police Department to replace funding cut from that department’s 2013 fiscal year account.
The Towing and Storage account was created to provide funding for the department fleet of alternative vehicles, while the cruiser fleet replacement funding has traditionally been a line item in the department’s budget
McCabe said that the combination of the towing reserve and the $100,000 free cash infusion allowed the department to purchase the needed vehicles, but that will not happen for the 2014 fiscal year, McCabe said.
“We’ve depleted the Towing and Storage account that was intended to be used for other vehicles,” McCabe said. “There is only $31,000 left.”
The department made a decision several years ago to replace cruisers at 70,000 miles, rather than at 100,000 miles as it did in the past, because of the cost of maintenance.
“We’ve saved $36,000 a year in vehicle maintenance since we’ve gone to the 75,000 mile turn-in program,” McCabe said.
The budget line item cut could result in keeping cruisers longer and increasing the cost of maintaining the fleet.
The Finance Committee members also discussed the cost of educational incentives.
The state used to provide half of that annual incentive through the Quinn Bill, but stopped several years ago. Some communities opted to continue to fund their half, while others, such as Westfield, funded the entire cost because of contractual requirements.
At-large Councilor David A. Flaherty suggested that increasing the fee charged by the department for outside work, typically traffic details, could increase revenue to help the city cover the Quinn Bill incentives.
Flaherty said the city currently has a 7 percent surcharge on outside details which generates about $300,000 a year.
“Could we raise that to 10 percent or charge an extra $10 an hour and put that money into the educational account to make up that 50 percent cut by the state?” Flaherty asked.
McCabe said that the problem with that approach is that the city is the major user of traffic details.
“How much of that work is apportioned to the city details and how much apportioned to private contractors?” McCabe asked.
Finance Chairman Richard E. Onofrey Jr., agreed with McCabe’s assessment.
“Then we’d be charging ourselves at a higher rate, basically taking money from one pocket and p0utting it in another,” Onofrey said. “The next big project in the city is Little River Road (Route 187).”
“It’s something to look at,” Flaherty said.
McCabe said there is also a need to increase the department’s clerical staff because demand for services has substantially increased. A clerical position, vacant due to a retirement, has been left unfunded for several years, while there has been “a dramatic increase” in services provided through that clerical staff.
“Captain (Hipolito) Nunez has clearly documented a need (for addition clerical staffing),” McCabe said. “There has been a dramatic increase in firearms licensing, the department is now issuing dog licenses and it seems that everyone coming into the station needs a CORI form, so there is a customer service generated need for additional help.”
