Mount Pleasant Police Told to Cut $167K from 2012 Budget

Editor's Note: The reduction percentage the village asked from both the police and fire departments is actually 3 percent, not the 5 percent we reported. We have corrected that figure and regret the error.

With the police union refusing to reopen the contract and little to cut from operating expenses, where to save $167,000 in the 2012 police budget is still up for grabs as of 3:45 pm, after more than two hours of talking.

Officers signed a contract in 2010 for two years, covering 2011 and 2012.

Police Chief Tim Zarzecki was first before village trustees during the Oct 13 morning session. The department budget he presented included a 1.2 percent increase spread amongst the absorption of clerks (formerly in the dispatch budget), increases in healthcare costs and use of vehicles and gas with the addition of three officers not hired until last August.

Still, after the South Shore Fire union was able to hammer out $1.2 million in concessions in just about 36 hours, trustees said the police department should also come up with savings equal to the 3 percent asked of SSFD, or, about $167,000.

Because the department expects to come in under the 2011 budget by at least $159,000, Zarzecki asked if those funds could be used to offset the savings the board wanted.

"We used due diligence in 2011 to keep expenses at as low a level as possible," he said.

With that question still up in the air, Zarzecki and Captains Tom Peterson and Brian Smith were told to come back after lunch with some new numbers to review and to call the union to see if reopening the contract was an option.

When the commanders returned to the table, Zarzecki told trustees that the union would not reopen the contract, primarily because officers had already made a number of concessions, including a wage freeze in 2012. Additionally, he said that the department's operating budget is already lean.

"We've been chipping away at it every year and we really don't have anywhere else to go," he said. Additionally, since the department was essentially saving the village $159,000 from 2011, he felt that money should be applied to the $167,000 in requested cuts.

Trustee Karen Albeck said that filling an $8,000 hole by nickeling and diming the department wasn't going to work, but wondered about additional revenue.

"If we're adding three officers, does that mean revenue from citations has the potential to go up?" she asked. "Couldn't we table this for now and revisit this budget in six months and see where we're at?"

But Trustee Gary Feest spoke up and said that with the village in such a tight spot, it was time to talk about the top expense of personnel.

"We're dying here and I hate to say it, but personnel is going to have to go," he said. "We may need every body in each of these departments, but if we can't afford them, then they have to go. We need to talk about the future, not just this next year."

Feest asked about taking some personnel from the top since officers are represented.

Zarzecki explained that if he loses one of his two captains, an officer will also lose his/her job because of the state statute ratio of how many commanders are needed to uniformed officers.

"If you cut a captain, then the other captain moves down to lietenant who moves to sergeant who moves uniform, and the last uniformed officer hired loses their job," he explained.

But Havn spoke up and said the board needs to revisit raising the levy. With assessments down by 10 percent, residents would actually pay less in taxes even with an 11-cent increase, leaving departments in tact.

"People say they want the same services for the same price," he said. "Well, this way, they get the same services for less."

But South Shore Battalion Chief Jon Kaiser said the board seems to be playing with two sets of rules.

"We have guys, including me, giving back $2,400 a year, which I'm fine with because it's for the right reason, but it has to be equitable," he said. "If the same concessions are not expected of the police, I can guarantee there will be push back."

Havn said he wasn't getting in the middle of a "pissing match" between the police and fire departments.

"I very much appreciate what the fire department did and that means we have to get creative with the police like furlough days or something," he added. "But we can't ignore the levy."