Selectmen Consider Cars, Cops, And Costs

By Steve Bigham

It sounded a little like “Car Talk” Monday night at the Board of Selectmen’s meeting on the 2001-2002 budget. The issue at hand was acceleration – not of police cruisers but of the cost of maintaining Newtown’s growing police force.

In the end, the selectmen approved a $2,966,089 police budget, which represents an increase of nearly $500,000 over last year. The one significant cut came in the form of a new cruiser, which saved the town about $20,000.

Much of the increase is due to a jump in sworn personnel costs, which went from $1.7 million to just over $2 million in one year. A larger force (43 members) plus contractual raises have driven the overall police budget to the $3 million threshold. These most recent contract negotiations were settled only after the current budget was approved this past May.

Acting Chief Michael Kehoe said he was just as shocked as everyone else was when he discovered how much his budget had gone up. First Selectman Herb Rosenthal admitted he was not crazy about the increase either, but found little room for cuts.

“Last year’s budget was understated. Now we have one that is overstated,” he said, referring to the big jump in officer salaries that has occurred in recent months.

As for cars, the police department had requested six new ones, but only got five in the end. It will have to get by without a new detective car through 2002. And although these cars only have 70,000 to 80,000 miles, the cycle is such that the mileage will likely go through the roof before the new cars come in, Chief Kehoe said.

“The problem is you have a 20 percent increase and we know there’s not a lot of fat there,” explained Selectman Bill Brimmer. “We’re looking for a little gristle and a little gristle may mean a patrol car.”

In what is becoming an annual tradition, the selectmen spent a great deal of time on the issue of patrol cars, studying the mileage of each car while determining how much longer the department can get by.

“These cars are taken care of much better than the average homeowner’s car,” Mr Rosenthal said. “That’s why they should last longer.”

Acting Chief Kehoe, whose own salary increases 11 percent under this budget, said that approximately $124,000 of the total police budget will be reimbursed through state and federal grants.

The selectmen also approved a $225,000 Edmond Town Hall Board of Managers budget, which is up $25,000 over the current budget. The board of managers had requested $250,000, but that figure was trimmed, particularly since the board received a $100,000 increase in the current budget.

“Last year we doubled the budget. Now it’s up another 25 percent. That’s a big increase,” Mr Rosenthal noted.

But, as board of managers chairman Edgar Beers points out, the number of repair jobs inside the building continues to mount. They currently amount to about $1 million. The biggest cost currently facing the managers is the patio project off the first selectman’s office.

“Our income has been staying pretty steady. It’s our expenses that are up,” Mr Beers said. “We finally got the furnace up to snuff. We would like to keep picking at these items.”

The Edmond Town Hall Board of Managers has been stuck in limbo in recent years as it awaits a final decision from the town on what it plans to do about its municipal space needs. All major renovation projects at Edmond Town Hall have been put on hold until after the Fairfield Hills issue is resolved.

“With a little bit of luck, maybe we’ll get all these renovations done by next year,” Mr Brimmer remarked. “Keep using that Krazy Glue ‘til we get the building the way you want it.”