WATERVILLE — When things get tough, police workloads increase.

That was the argument police Chief Joseph Massey touted Tuesday at a City Council budget review meeting. He is requesting an additional police officer and a dispatcher position in the proposed $4.2 million police department budget for 2020-21.

Massey said that the regional communications center at the police department raised fees to area communities it dispatches for and that increased revenues from $161,000 to $300,000. Because of that increase, the department is able to hire another dispatcher, he said.

Council Chairman Erik Thomas said it was a long overdue fee increase to area communities, but asked Massey what the effect would be on the communications center if the hiring of an additional dispatcher was delayed a year.

Massey said it would be a significant impact. The center dispatches for not only the city, but also for Winslow, Oakland, Albion, Belgrade, China, Rome, Clinton and Sidney. Massey said it dispatches for so many communities which now are paying more in fees and they expect a certain level of service, he said.

“Right now, we have some times when we only have one dispatcher on,” he said. “Having one dispatcher on is just not safe. That is the bottom line. It’s just not safe.”

A long debate ensued about what the city can afford, what taxpayers are willing to fund and what is needed to keep people safe. Massey said part of the argument for raising dispatching fees was having the ability to hire another dispatcher, but Thomas said the council did not have that discussion. He said he wondered if fees should be raised again, and asked what the city is doing to recruit more communities to sign on for dispatching services.

Massey said he would not recommend the city recruit more communities now.

“I would not feel comfortable doing that,” he said.

Councilor Rick Foss, R-Ward 5, said he feared raising fees would turn communities off.

“If we’re going to go looking at jacking rates up again, they’re going to shop someplace else,” he said.

Mayor Nick Isgro said he found it hard to pick on the idea of hiring a new dispatcher. The current dispatchers are stressed out and working extra hours and, as Massey said, having another dispatcher would boost their morale, Isgro said.

Thomas said the council’s job is to look out for the city’s budget, to which Isgro said officials are looking out for the budget — and for the people on the front lines who are most stressed, so as not to burn them out. The city must be fair to Waterville taxpayers and its partners, he said.

Councilor Sydney Mayhew, R-Ward 4, said he agreed with Massey. Public safety employees are on “the front line on the (coronavirus) pandemic and every other bad situation that happens,” he said.

The police department is the city’s largest department, with 41 employees. The proposed $4.2 million police department budget represents a $182,000 increase from the current budget, or 4.4%. Of that $192,000 increase, about $61,000 is for the dispatcher position. Most of the rest of the increase is represented in negotiated increased wages and benefits, according to Massey.

He said that he had asked for two new cruisers in the proposed budget, but is able to pay for them with $130,000 in drug forfeiture money.

Before the coronavirus pandemic hit, there was support from the council for an additional police officer position, according to Massey. He said he knows times are tough, but the work load for police now is much greater. He said the pressures and challenges of policing are greater, and sometimes the department has three officers on a shift and sometimes, just two.

Police are starting to do more than just enforcement, which ties officers up, he said.

They are seeking alternatives to arrests during the pandemic. Officers are working with hospitals, dealing with people who have mental illness and those who are homeless or addicted, according to Massey. Police organize golf tournaments and concerts to raise funds for the department’s Operation HOPE program, which gets people who are addicted to drugs into treatment.

“All of that requires an officer to spend sometimes two, three, four hours that takes that officer off the road,” he said.

An officer can be tied up at a hospital for 10 minutes or up to six or eight hours, according to Massey. In a domestic violence situation, an officer often must stay with the victim, leaving only two other officers on duty, he said.

“When we have these downturns and find ourselves in these types of situations, the work load for us is great,” he said.

The officer position would cost $87,885, which includes wages and benefits, according to Massey.

“I know there’s no good time to do that, but we certainly could use an additional officer,” he said.

Councilor Claude Francke, D-Ward 6, told Massey he had made an excellent case to the council about the police department’s needs, but the question is whether he can persuade taxpayers that they need an extra police officer and so on.

“You guys are doing great work at keeping things under control,” Francke said. “The ultimate question though, is where are we going to find the money?”

 

OTHER BUSINESS

The council on Tuesday also reviewed budgets for the Waterville Public Library, Robert LaFleur Municipal Airport, and the Parks and Recreation Department. Councilors discussed the needs and the changes that are likely to occur because of the coronavirus pandemic, such as the real possibility the municipal pool on North Street will not open this summer, and that state revenue sharing to the city will be much less than expected.

“The elephant in the room for our budget is state revenue sharing,” City Manager Michael Roy said.

Thomas said that, unless the federal government steps in to help, he thinks the city will see a big hit to revenue sharing.

Isgro said it is a great exercise to discuss a proposed municipal budget, but councilors and city officials “don’t have a clue” what it will look like or when the council will vote on it.

“This is going to be a stream of consciousness budget for the next several months,” he said.

Thomas noted that the council’s policy is to keep the city’s surplus fund at 12% of the annual budget, but said maybe the city will have to dip into that fund, making it less than 12%, and hope things get better.

The council will review proposed budgets for the Public Works Department and capital improvements on May 12, according to Roy.

The good news, he said, is that the schools are asking for more than $30,000 less in local taxes in the 2020-21 budget than last year. The Waterville Board of Education took a first vote Monday to approve a proposed $25.7 million budget.

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On this date in Maine history: April 29, narrated by Judy Meyer