Politics & Government

Orangetown Reviews Proposed 2012 Police Budget

The Orangetown Town Council held a budget meeting at the end of Tuesday's scheduled board workshop to review the requested 2012 budget for the Orangetown Police Department.

Orangetown's department heads already submitted proposed budgets 2012.

Supervisor Paul Whalen has also submitted a tentative 2012 budget to the town clerk.

That doesn't mean the various departments have stopped working on making revisions and cuts.

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The public got a look at the process for one very big piece of the town's budget Tuesday in a public meeting to discuss the Orangetown Police Department's requested budget for 2012 after Tuesday's regularly-scheduled council workshop.

"We have been working to get it down, hopefully, to a zero percent increase," said Orangetown Director of Finance Charlie Richardson. "We have not been able to do that so far.

Find out what's happening in Pearl Riverwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"We have been able to trim, though I think the department would not characterize it that charitably. To the extent that there was any padding in the department budget, it's pretty much gone, I think."

The 2011 budget for the Orangetown PD was $14,174,506. The proposal for 2012 is currently at $14,236,503, a 0.44 percent increase.

The Town Council has asked the individual departments to cut down to a zero percent increase, or even a 5.5 percent decrease, but the members of the council were complimentary to the department and Richardson for the work done so far.

"To get to zero is not an easy thing to do," Councilman Denis Troy said. "

"I see a lot of substantial cuts have been made here," said Councilwoman Nancy Low-Hogan. "Good job."

Richardson explained the hurdles in cutting to a zero percent increase. The town is still negotiating with the PBA for a new contract, but even with the old one in place, salaries would increase 2.38 percent form $11.61 million to $11.88 million.

"Officers hired in the last five years are moving up the ranks to the full $106,000," Richardson said. "They have significant step increases."

Richardson said he does not expect to see much savings from anticipated retirements due to potential overtime increases and the fact that those retirements were accounted for in the 2011 budget.

Another increase is $96,000 in communications equipment. That accounts for most of the increase from $14,072 to $110,916 for rental equipment.

"Those are police costs of communications equipment to eliminate dead spots in Nyack and Pearl River," Richardson said. "Unfortunately, it comes with a hefty cost, though it is well worth it."

Gas prices are the third issue Richardson said will cause an increase. The 2011 budget called for $200,000 for gasoline, but the department looks like it will come in closer to $265,000 due to increases in prices this year. The request for 2012 is $245,000.

"The department is requesting $245,000 and that is a reasonable number," Richardson said. "The days of cheap gas are gone, unfortunately."

Among the cuts are the DARE and Youth Academy, which accounted for $17,095 in 2011. The youth bureau would also be reduced from $28,200 to $16,175.

Orangetown Police Chief Kevin Nulty stressed that no more cuts can be made in training for officers. The difficulty is that some programs just are not available locally, so there is more of an expense to take part.

Council members raised questions about a proposed reduction in crossing guard expenses from $170,000 to $165,000 in light of reduced busing available in the South Orangetown and Pearl River School Districts that could create a need for more crossing guards.

There is still an ongoing issue of crossing guards taking unemployment during the summer. The town is looking to close a loophole that is costing between $6,000 and $7,000 per year.


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