Fairfield Police Request Decreased FY13 Budget

The managed to shave $8,300 – or .06 percent -- off it’s Fiscal Year 2012-2013 (FY13) budget, which was presented to the Boards of Finance and Selectmen Tuesday night.

The budget weighs in at $14,713,843 versus the current $14,722,152.

“Gentlemen, you can go home now,” Rob Bellitto Jr., Vice Chairman of the Board of Finance, joked as representatives from the department took their seats to review the budget.

Police Chief Gary MacNamara said the department was able to deliver the decrease “while maintaining our strategic operations,” which, in 2011, meant responding to more then 41,000 calls, among the many additional services the department offers.

MacNamara added that overtime -- in early February -- “has been difficult to predict. It should probably be funded more than it is.”

The department carries three vacancies, which are filled with officers working overtime. The requested funds for the overtime earnings and replacement accounts were not increased over the current year’s budget for those line items.

However, the accounts for part-time payroll, holiday pay, work attendance bonus, health insurance actives, life insurance, Social Security, maintenance and repairs, cleaning and janitorial supplies, postage, and capital were all decreased.

Most other accounts were held at zero percent increases. The line items that did see increases were due to contractual obligations (like regular payroll, which increased by half a percent), fee increases (such as rental and storage fees), and fuel cost hikes.

The department is requesting $349,596 in capital requests, which is included in the sector’s operational budget. The capital funding will cover the replacement of eight marked patrol cars ($34,500 each), two unmarked patrol cars ($30,000 each), and two light bars (total: $11,276).

Usually the police department asks to replace 12 marked patrol cars, but the iconic Ford Crown Victoria model the police use will no longer be produced. Macnamara said they aren’t sure yet which type of car they will transition to, and so only allocated for the 10 cars until the new model is picked.

As for the revenue side of the budget, the department is projected to raise a total of $300,000 in revenue for FY13, thanks primarily to a more stringent parking enforcement unit, MacNamara said.

They expect to generate $265,000 in parking tickets in the next fiscal year.