Loading ...Where Did Your Public Safety Tax Money Go?
Since the city won’t be hiring 100 new police officers anytime soon, you might be wondering where your public safety tax money went that was supposed to hire them? $38 million of the tax increase went to IMPD, $10 million of that was supposed to hire new cops. Here’s a breakdown of how it was spent.
- $13 million was spent on overtime costs.
- $8.8 million was spent on contractual salary increases.
- $1 million was spent on legal settlements.
- $15.7 million was spent on paying off tax anticipation warrants (short-term borrowing)
I told you people there was nothing in the ordinance that said money had to be spent on new cops. I really do hate being right all the time.
September 8th, 2008 at 8:53 am
$13 million in overtime? Seems to me that 100 new cops for $10 million would have ELIMINATED most overtime…a good fiscal management move. ($13 million at time and a half equals about $8.75 million in straight time.) But eliminating overtime would probably honk off the rank and file. For a law-and-order mayor who wants more cops on the street, this doesn’t add up.
September 8th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Keep in mind that the approval of “contractual salary increases” for IMPD was the very first action taken by the new Mayor after the election.
This one fiscal decision has huge impacts on a larger city budget.
September 8th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Thundermutt, even if they hired the 100, it would take nearly a year before they could complete the training and be added to the ranks.
September 8th, 2008 at 10:00 am
A lot of the overtime pay for IMPD officers is for time spent in court testifying (and waiting to testify, sometimes for hours). Since the majority of arrests are made by middle and late shift officers, that means these officers are in court during business hours on their own time, hence all the overtime. Day shift officers don’t get overtime for being in court because they are already on the clock. If we add more officers, particularly to middle and late shifts, and then we expect those officers to make arrests, then we also must expect that they will receive subpoenas to appear in court which means even more overtime pay.
September 8th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Taxpayer, The peterson admin approved the current IMPD contract
September 8th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Thundermut, although your point could have some validity in the private sector, it is not accurate here. The fact is that overtime was not caused by failing to hire the new officers, and paying current officers overtime to perform work due to manpower shortage. They are just running dangerously short, which is why our city is getting so violent (of course, the soft judges who release criminals without posting bond so they may laugh at justice and continue to victimize us and giving soft sentences like ‘probation’ or ‘home detention’ are more the cause than too few police).
New officers would be absorbed like water in a sponge…there just are not enough police.
The overtime was spent on overtime that would exist even if there were 100 new officers! That money went for things such as investigations that let into overtime (cannot pass it to someone else), Colts details, Pacers details, 911 calls at shift change, court time, etc.
September 8th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Court overtime comes out of the Prosecutor’s Office budget, but I’m not sure if it gets traced back to IMPD’s budget or not or if they pitch in to their bottom line at all.
Abdul, it might be worth your time to see how much more overtime IFD is paying out.
September 8th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Someone should do an expos’e on the ineffiencies of the Fire Department. 24 hour shift times where we pay people to sleep, cook meals, play basketball, grocery shop and occasionaly fight a fire seem terribly wrong. Can someone please explain why Fireman have to work 24 hours? Why can’t they work 8 hour shifts like the police? What would the cost savings be if we did not have to buy these palatial fire stations.
September 8th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
huge amounts of overtime are paid at events like races and expo/circle city classic. at the race guys have to be at the track at 5 am. dependeing on weather construction on roads and such officers might not get done till 9pm. that happened to me acouple brick yards ago.
September 8th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
When the money ‘invested’ in stadiums, hotels and convention centers starts coming in, all will be well. (where’s the ‘rolls eyes’ smiley?)
September 8th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Ash,
Overtime does not come out of the prosecutor’s office budget.
September 8th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Theoretically shouldn’t some of these costs have been planned and budgeted for ahead of time? As they typically are, the money that should have been there for the contractual increase (contract several years old), legal settlements (normal expense that is budgeted for), and overtime (will always be some and I do believe it is generally budgeted for). As it appears the money that is normally there for those normal recurring expenses was not there, where did THAT money go that had to be replaced with the $38 million? Once again it looks like a Peterson shell game Abdul. This looks like just the final move. What started this domino chain?
September 8th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
First of all, Glen Ballard supported the Governor’s property tax play in HB 1001 which is causing this mess. Sure your property taxes MAY go down someday (and I do mean someday…), but it screws up local budgets. And before you start talking waste, more than 60% of the city-county budget is public safety.
Nevertheless, everyone is missing the obvious point. Glen Ballard ran on the platform that we didn’t NEED an income tax increase. That’s how he won.
Now he’s complaining about not having enough money for anything. Someone please square this with me. And no “It’s Bart Peterson’s fault” doesn’t fly here. Either we needed the income tax or we don’t. If he didn’t have it, he’d be screwed.
Time to man up, put his big boy pants on (or his dress blues - whichever applies), stop whining and govern.
September 8th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Hailey, court overtime does.
September 8th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
One more thing - BART PETERSON IS NO LONGER MAYOR. He hasn’t been for almost a year. When are you guys going to stop whining and start leading??
Oh, Bart left a mess?? So what do you call the Bush-Cheney-McCain administration?
September 8th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
“Abdul, it might be worth your time to see how much more overtime IFD is paying out.”
FYI, IFD has paid over $3Million a year overtime the last two years. Yet Peterson only budgeted a very tiny amount for 2008. Maybe artWilson can explain that one.
September 8th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Gary Welsh is a flat-out liar and quite dishonest. Very untrustworthy! I am not “artfuggins” despite Gary’s constant fabrications. His only specialty is bamboozlement and whining…
September 8th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
This mess should be laid at the feet of Peterson and the willing inept council and their 150 blank pages. Mayor Ballard is now finding out what a house of cards the democrats built. So no one should whine and moan over loss of funding for arts and unused parks and the rest. All we should care to see is Mayor Ballard fixing this mess, putting adults in charge of the money and to just say no the frills until this is fixed. That’s what you get when you leave Demorats in charge of cities without supervision.
September 8th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Abbie, could you clarify $15 million on tax anticipation warrants (short term borrowing) please?
September 8th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Colts details, Pacers details, races and expo/circle city classic?
Shouldn’t these events pay for their own private security?
September 9th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Hate reaises a good point.Take away the fire stations(saving millions)8 hour shifts and the overtime will take care of itself.Why no other mayor will not consider closing down the fire depts.At least do a study and find out much money that is involved.