Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCP 46 MM W noriammmaymn POLICY PROPOSAL DATE FILE NUMBER SUBJECT Five-Year Public PAGE-!-OF-.L 2/20/79 CP-46 Strate PROPOSAL PROPOSED BYs AX CRY MANA PR'S REVIEW Hugh Parm .t Background 'A safe community is the right of every citizen who lives in Fort Worth. Security is a basi* necessity for enjoying life. The assurance that adequate public safety resources are available promotes peace of mind that our citizens deserve. The bottom line in any effort for achieving this objective is superior police and fire protection. At present, I believe the scope of our public safety programs -is inadequate and requires improvement to make police and fire protection in Fort Worth second to none. As Mayor, an area of concern to me is the quality and professionalism of the men and women in our Police and Fire Departments. As we all know, on January 20, 1979, the city of Dallas v6ted by a 57% to 43% margin to increase the salaries of their public safety officers by 15%. This resulted overnight in Fort Worth officers receiving some 24% less pay than their Dallas counterparts. If this disparity continues, it will hinder our efforts to recruit and retain qualified people in our public safety forces. We must close this gap if we are to attract people with specialized training and college educations and minorities. Moreover, we must make an effort to reduce attrition by retaining existing personnel whose experience is invaluable in the con- tinued operation of our Police and Fire Departments. With the 15% salary increase, a Dallas patrol private will earn a salary comparable to that of a sergeant in the Fort Worth Police Department. This salary difference could result in the loss of privates as well as our experienced supervisors whose training and experience have been at this City's expense. If the quality of our officers is permitted to decline, the relative safety of our community will also diminish. Another area of concern is the personnel and other resources available for public safety programs. Through provisions in the Capital Improvement Program which our citizens approved in 1978, fire services will be expanded over the next four years in order to attain a satisfactory level of service. The objective is to reduce response time to fire calls to less than four minutes for all areas of the City. This objective was identified by citizens as a high priority and will be accomplished by 1982 with the relocation of several fire stations and the addition of six new stations. In my opinion, police protection is an even higher priority in the minds of the citizens Last year was a relatively safe year for Fort Worth. Two federally funded West Wind operations were successful in reducing the number of professional criminals in our community. But dependency on federal money to combat crime in our City cannot continue. Crime statistics for January, 1979, indicate increases have occurred in robberies, bur- glaries, aggravated assaults, larceny and auto theft when compared to 1978 figures. These increases range from sixteen to forty-six per cent andey are alarming. Yet, LEGALITY [0 FISCAL NOTE CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS POLICY PROPOSAL (cont'd) PAGE OF 5 our police forces respond with insufficient personnel and other restricted resources. Presently, we have a staffing of 1.63 officers per 1,000 population. This ratio falls short of an average 1.91 officers per 1,000 population 'for cities comparable in size and population to Fort Worth. The population and the geographical boundaries of Fort Worth have grown and our police forces have been spread thinner and thinner in an attempt to cover the area. Much of the time, our police forces are only reactive to crime as opposed to initiating preventive police measures. Population projections indicate growth will continue, making the situation more and more critical. A brief survey of several cities comparable in geographical area and population was conducted to compute this average. They include Dallas, Austin, Oklahoma City, Oakland, Tuscon, and Toledo. Proposal In view of these problems, I propose that the Fort Worth City Council adopt a long range strategy aimed at�enhancing our public safety programs. This strategy will complement the provisions of the Capital Improvement Program. It will require implementation over a five-year period in order to minimize the fiscal impact on the General Fund. 'The purpose of the Public Safety Strategy is two-fold: 1) Initially, I propose that we institute a five-year plan commencing in FY 1979-80 to raise police and fire salaries to a level of 95% of the City of Dallas. Although this proposal involves approximately a 10% increase annually for the next five years for police officers and fire- fighters, it does not represent an unrealistic amount when compared with the average increase of 7.6% approved for these classifications in Fort Worth over the last five years. 2) Further, I propose that we adopt a four-year plan for improvements in police services similar in intent to the Capital Improvements Program for fire services. Commencing in FY 1980-81, this proposal entails increasing the strength of our present police force by 129 officers and increasing our police officers per 1,000 population to 1.93. This four-year plan includes the addition of a patrol team which would permit police officers to respond to citizen calls for assistance more rapidly, thereby reducing the average response time. Further, a tactical unit would be created to handle highly- charged emotional situations requiring specialized training. Further, it will enhance our investigative services to permit officers to solve crimes faster, thus removing habitual criminals from our community. Finally, it will provide enhancements to our youth division, our communications division and our research and planning division. Cost of Public Safety Strategy The cost of implementing this Public Safety Strategy will be expensive but I believe it is in accordance with the priorities of our citizens. The costs of improving the level of police services and making public safety salaries competitive are outlined below: CITY OF FORT WORTH 1 POLICY PROPOSAL (cont'd) PAGE OFA_ YEARLY CUMULATIVE COSTS OF PUBLIC SAFETY IMPROVEMENT STRATEGY 79-80 80-81 81-82 82-83 83--84 Police $ 786,000 $2,939,000 $4,766,000 $ 6,700,000 $ 8,776,000 Fire 962,000 2,078,000 3,187,000 4,282,000 5,316,000 Total 1,748,000 5,017,000 7,955,000 10,982,000 14,092,000 These estimated costs are based,on the assumption that the City of Dallas will increase public safety pay scales by 5% annually. If Dallas salaries do not increase by 5% each year, the costs for Fort Worth would be less in order to maintain a 95% parity with Dallas salary ranges. Financing, Financing for this Public Safety Strategy is based on anticipated revenues during the period of 1979-84 from the current tax structure. Further, it appears that this proposal would not require a tax increase in any year if revenues projected from the development of the GSIA properties are realized. These revenues were predicted in a memorandum to the City Council on September 7, 1978. Although these improvements will be costly, expenditures can be offset by additional revenues anticipated from the GSIA property as indicated below: PROJECTED COMBINED REVENUES FROM GSIA PLUS NORMAL REVENUE PROJECTIONS GSIA Revenues Normal Projections Total Revenues 79-80 $1,520,982 $ 95,272,129 $ 96,793,111 80-81 2,772,852 103,941,750 106,714,612 81-82 3,961,776 113,400,450 117,362,226 82-83 5,150,700 123, 719,890 128,870,590 83-84 6,339,627 134,978,400 141,318,027 TOTAL PROJECTED REVENUES MINUS DEBT SERVICE REQUIREMENTS Available Operating Revenues Debt Service Funds 79-80 $ 96,793,111 $10,938,792 $ 85,854,319 80-81 106,714,612 11,540,426 95,174,186 81-82 117,362,226 12,175,149 105,187,077 82-83 128,870,590 12,844, 782 116,025,808 83-84 141,318,027 13,551,245 127,766,782 Upon completion of this proposal, expenditures for public safety would comprise 48.5% of the General Fund, as opposed to 40.9% in this year's budget. With the addi- tional GSIA revenues, there would be funds available for a 7.56% annual growth in non-public safety services as outlined below: CITY OF FORT WORTH POLICY PROPOSAL (cont'd) PAGE_OF PROJECTED GROWTH RATES - PUBLIC SAFETY AND OTHER FUNCTIONS (GSIA Revenues added to normal projections) Available Operati4g Funds Public Safety % Other Functions % 78-79 $ 77,391,979 $31,682,870 % $45,709,109 % 79-80 85,854,319 36,138,895 +14.1 49,715,424 + 8.8 80-81 95,174,186 42,516,360 +17.6 52,657,826 + 5.9 81-82 105,187,077 48,433,117 +12.9 56,753,960 + 7.8 82-83 116,025,808 54,760,900 +13.1 61,264,908 + 7.9 83-84 127,766,782 61,985,953 +13.2 65,780,829 + 7.4 Expenditure increases for non-public safety services have averaged only a little over 6% during the past five years,hence, it would appear that opportunities for property tax relief would not be sacrificed by adoption of the Public Safety Strategy. More- over, .careful evaluation ,of all non-public safety services to maximize available resources and insure economical provision of the most important services will further enhance opportunities for tax relief. If revenues from the GSIA property do not materialize as expected, then public safety salaries could still be brought to 95% of the level of Dallas as proposed with available revenues. However, the strategy for improvements in police staffing could be implemented over a more extended period of time in order to reduce the fiscal impact and combine the rate of expenditure increases with the growth rate of revenues. Moreover, this plan may require an extended time period for implementation if diffi- culty is encountered in recruitment efforts in the Police and Fire Departments. This Mould further minimize the fiscal impacts of this strategy on the General Fund. Recommendation In conclusion, this strategy will be costly. Yet, I believe it is essential for improving the quality of life and safety in our community. I believe that these improvements are of a high priority to our citizens and with expected GSIA revenues, this proposal represents an excellent opportunity to improve public safety and provide some property tax relief. I recommend that the Fort Worth City Council adopt this proposal and the attached resolution for a Strategy for Public Safety and ask your commitment to these plans which are so important to the future well-being of our community. Legality No legal objection is perceived to adoption of long-range goals or objectives. Implementation will have to take into account charter provisions and the laws, state and federal, that are effective at the time any specific budget is adopted. CITY OF FORT WORTH s a POLICY PROPOSAL (cont'.d) PAOE_OF Fiscal Note The estimated costs of the proposed Public Safety Strategy are included in the above text. City Manager's Comments The proposed five-year Public Safety Strategy is clearly a policy matter;involy ing long-range City objectives. If adopted by the City Council, the staff will do its best to implement this strategy. ugh mel"-, MayorV OF FORT WO i�'TH, TEAS! SUBJECT L`AMUR OF THIS 14 WAS PRESENTED TO THE CITY . CCIL. CO ;t o _7 A11-T) WAS t !. APPROVED City Secretary CRY OF 'FORT WORTH Approved that resolution in concept and called for a 5 percent interim increase for Public Safety Officers within 90 days with City Manager to report back to the City Council his recommendation on all positions within 60 days where there is more than a 9 percent differential between Fort Worth and Dallas.