By Noah Crenshaw | Daily Journal
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After Greenwood froze its budget this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the city is looking to increase next year’s budget by about 14%.
The 2022 budget is a little more than $45.2 million, the bulk of which — $42.7 million — is the city’s operating budget. The other $2.5 million is for capital projects, which would be paid by the city’s cash on hand, according to city documents.
The largest chunk of Greenwood’s budget would go toward public safety. The city’s police and fire departments both requested three new probationary positions, creating six new jobs.
The new positions would give the Greenwood Police Department a total of 82 full-time officers and staff, and would give the Greenwood Fire Department 67 full-time firefighters and staff, according to city documents.
Greenwood is also planning to add three new firefighters a year, at minimum, from 2022 to 2026, with the goal of bringing the department’s number of full-time staff to 79. The rationale behind the decision to increase the staffing by three a year was called into question by two city council members during this month’s city council meetings.
“I feel like we’ve talked about numerous times in this chamber that we’re going to address staffing shortages whether it’s through police or fire,” council member Michael Williams said. “What’s the finance rationale behind headcount padding? Because I feel like we’re still just throwing buckets of water on a bigger fire.”
Wright told council members the city is limited when it comes to funding the fire department, with $614 billion of the city’s assessed value not able to be used toward funding the department. The city is always looking for grants to increase staffing, but for now, as the city continues to look at transitioning part-time to full-time positions, this is the only option, he said.
City council member Brad Pendleton asked Wright if the headcount of three new firemen a year accounted for the city’s population growth. Since 2010, the city’s population has grown by 28.2%, to 63,830 in 2020.
Three new firefighters a year would allow the department to be fully-staffed in the next two years, while keeping part-time staff, Wright said. The city is also looking at building a new fire station once funding is available.
Pendleton once again voiced his concerns regarding staffing of the fire and police departments during the second night of the budget presentation on Monday. The city’s ratios for public safety are below what they should be, and the city should have 102 full-time firefighters based on his own analysis, he said.
The proposed number of first responders is not enough to keep up with the city’s population growth.
“Three full-time for both of those (departments) are not enough,” Pendleton said.
Greenwood Fire also requested a new fire engine and ladder truck, which would be paid for out of next year’s general obligation bonds. A little more than $2.5 million would be spent on the new vehicles and other capital improvements for the department, city documents show.
Both the fire and police departments are not understaffed overall, but are in terms of full-time staff that are needed.
“Our departments are fully staffed, whether its by full-time or part-time employees,” Mayor Mark Myers said.
The debate comes down to what fully-staffed means, and both Pendleton and Myers have different ideas about that, council member Mike Campbell said.
Greenwood Fire also requested a new fire engine and ladder truck, which would be paid for out of next year’s general obligation bonds. A little more than $2.5 million would be spent on the new vehicles and other capital improvements for the department, city documents show.
Council member Linda Gibson shifted the conversation to the police department when she asked Police Chief James Ison about the limit to the number of full-time officers the city can add. The city can only add six officers at a time due to training needs and requirements.
The issue is bigger than just funding. The department, along with other police agencies around the state, are also facing a workforce shortage, Ison said.
“Typically, we would have 300 applicants in the process, and we would probably have 150 or 160 show up for the physical fitness test,” he said. “This last process, we had 77 applicants and 38 show up (for the test).”
That is partially due to more and more applicants saying they would only do policing for a few years before moving on. Also, more people are weighing the pros and cons of policing due to an increased spotlight on qualified immunity by legislators, he said.
Qualified immunity is legal doctrine that shields government officials — such as police officers — from being held personally liable for monetary damages under federal law so long as the officials did not violate clearly established law in regards to a statutory or constitutional or constitutional right. It only applies to suits against government officials as individuals and not suits against the government for damages caused by the officials’ actions, according to Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute.
Across the board, a total of 14 new full-time positions are requested.
The city’s street department requested two new laborers and an additional supervisor. Other positions would be added to the waste management, aviation, parks, sanitation, stormwater and planning departments, along with the Board of Public Works and Safety.
The city would also eliminate a full-time field officer position in the probation department because it is no longer needed. A part-time probation officer was created in its place to better reflect the department’s needs, Wright said.
All city employees would receive a 3% cost-of-living increase, which is standard. Salaries were not increased this year due to budget restrictions related to the pandemic.
The budget also accounts for expense increases due to inflation, especially in services and supplies budgets. Almost every department that has city vehicles expects to see an increase in gasoline and diesel costs, according to city documents.
Indy South Greenwood Airport also requested an increase its supplies budget for bulk purchases of jet fuel and avgas — a type of fuel used for small, piston engine-powered aircraft — due to increasing costs. The airport’s supply budget increased by more than 37%, to nearly $750,000, city documents show.
A public hearing on the city’s budget is set for Oct. 4, and the council is expected to vote on and adopt the budget at its Oct. 18 meeting.
