Public safety budgets take center stage at City Hall
May 2—Public safety departments took center stage on Thursday as budget discussions for the upcoming year continued for the third day at City Hall.
The police and fire department are both primed for budget increases for fiscal year 2024-25.
The proposed St. Joseph Police Department budget lays out $34.2 million in expenditures, an increase of $4.7 million, or 16%, from the year prior.
For the St. Joseph Fire Department, the city has budgeted $26.9 million for the upcoming fiscal year, a 7% increase of nearly $1.8 million.
St. Joseph police have budgeted funds for five positions they are cautiously optimistic they'll be able to fill after making strides over the past year with staffing. The department is down to 17 vacancies after reporting nearly 26 openings in 2023. Despite budgeting for five spots, the department will continue to recruit and will make funds for additional positions if they are able to hire more and exceed budget proposals.
"It's something that we talk about nearly daily of where we at," Police Chief Paul Luster said. "So just putting that on the front of everybody's mind and just keep pressing forward in the right direction. I think it's important. So I like the momentum we have and I think we have a real opportunity here to keep that momentum."
The police sales tax that voters approved in 2022 is budgeted for a 40% expenditure increase of $2.2 million, raising it to $7.7 million for fiscal year 2024-25.
Police department salary expenses will increase by $162,450, including the cost of organizational structure changes. Benefits add 41%, resulting in a total increase of roughly $229,644. Police have also budgeted for a digital evidence technician to help manage and review footage from hundreds of body cameras expected for officers.
One area of notable progress for police discussed in the work session was their enforcement of expired vehicle temp tags, something they will continue to prioritize moving forward.
"Over a year's period, we've served over 1,700 tickets, 1,500 of them for specifically expired temp tags ... That's important to our community," Luster said.
Fire Chief Kenny Cordonnier said the department is fully staffed at Thursday's work session. With a young group of firefighters, the department has ramped up its training with 3,000 hours of additional training to strengthen its capabilities.
"I don't really know the average age of our department, but it's young and with youth, you don't get the experience. So we've got to train," Cordonnier said.
Along with newly applied for grants, the department is eyeing partnerships with area agencies to help facilitate additional training in the coming year.
Fire department salary expenses will increase by $342,563. Benefits add 60%, resulting in a total increase of $548,145.
Top initiatives for the fire department include:
* Creating a revolving fleet replacement program
* Creating a new firefighter wellness initiative
* Boosting its ISO rating by improving training processes and station relocations
* Acquiring land for future addition to the Headquarters Station, which is expected to be completed this year
* Creating a fire turnout gear replacement program to meet NFPA guidelines
* Implementing an alerting/dispatching program that will improve response times
Top initiatives for the police department include:
* Evaluating aging equipment
* Initiating a large-scale project to procure body-worn cameras and to replace vehicle and interview room cameras
* Enhancing existing programs and development of new programs to enhance community-police relationships.
* Remaining focused on plans to replace the aging fleet and provide members with the most functional patrol vehicles
* Researching and applying for grant funding that enhances fiscal responsibility
Budget discussions will continue on Monday for both the Public Works and Transportation Department and the Parks, Recreation and Civic Facilities Department.
