Modesto’s mayor has $2.5 million plan for more police

Mayor Ted Brandvold announced last month he wanted Modesto to hire as many as 22 more police officers in the city’s 2016-17 budget year, which starts July 1. He now has a plan to pay for his proposal.

Brandvold outlines roughly $2.5 million in budget cuts and expected new revenue to hire additional officers. He also recommends using reserves if his plan does not bring in enough money. He spells out his plan in his final budget modifications letter to the City Council.

The council is expected to consider the budget – which includes Brandvold’s letter – at its Tuesday meeting and set a public hearing for its June 21 meeting to adopt the budget. (The budget would require a second, final hearing June 28.)

Brandvold took office in late February after defeating incumbent Garrad Marsh in the mayoral runoff election. Brandvold promised voters he would change the city’s spending priorities to find additional revenue for public safety. His proposal to hire as many as 22 officers would increase the number of officers allocated to the Police Department from 218 to 240.

Here is how he intends to pay for them:

▪ ▪  Eliminate four vacant positions for an annual savings of $425,000; accept a recommendation from City Attorney Adam Lindgren to cut his office’s budget by $100,000; and cut $650,000 in what the city spends on consultants, for a total savings of $1.175 million.

▪  Increase the employee vacancy rate from 4 percent to 5 percent and use the $731,000 in savings this will generate for additional police officers. The vacancy rate reflects that city departments do not operate at 100 percent staffing because of attrition, such as employees retiring or leaving for other jobs and the lag time in replacing them. The city had not been using a vacancy rate until the current 2015-16 budget and consequently ended budget years with a few million dollars because departments were not fully staffed.

▪  Hire a contract employee to help ensure the city is receiving what is called the “mil tax” from all of the businesses required to pay it. The mayor’s letter estimates this could bring in $150,000 annually. City officials have said hiring an employee a couple of years ago to do this has brought in $250,000 annually.

Additionally, the budget would use the estimated $360,000 in annual savings from a new, less expensive letter of credit. The letter backs the 2008 refinancing of debt the city issued to build facilities, such as its share of Tenth Street Place, the city-county administration center.

Brandvold said his recommendations are based on the work of City Manager Jim Holgersson, city staff and his 100-day budget review committee, which the council formed in March at Brandvold’s request. In his letter, Brandvold said the council should also support the city’s efforts to obtain a federal COPS grant to hire officers.

He also stressed Modesto needs to work on becoming financially self-sustaining and vowed that city officials would work to make that happen. He also expressed his confidence in the 100-day committee coming up with recommendations that will help the city’s long-term financial health.

Brandvold wrote he will defer to Holgersson and police Chief Galen Carroll in how to implement the additional police staffing. Carroll has said if the council approves the additional funding, he would prefer to hire 19 officers, three sergeants and four community service officers. He said community service officers can handle routine matters, freeing up officers’ time for higher priority work.

Carroll has said it could take as long as two years to increase his department’s staffing by 19 because of attrition and the time it takes to recruit and train new officers. The council meets at 5:30 p.m. in the basement chamber of Tenth Street Place, 1010 10th St.

This story was originally published June 6, 2016 at 6:38 PM with the headline "Modesto’s mayor has $2.5 million plan for more police."