Florissant police oppose proposal to cut their pay by 3 percent
Lowery
Florissant Mayor Robert Lowery and city council members on Monday faced about 60 city police officers whose pay they may cut by 3 percent by the end of the month.
The blue-uniformed officers sat in the back rows of the council chamber. They stood up to support their union leader, Officer Brian Bethmann, as he urged the council to find a way to balance the city budget without the pay cut.
“We understand these are tough economic times,” Bethmann said. “But there are a number of items should be discussed before a reduction of pay rates,” said Bethmann, president of the Florissant Police Association, Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 25.
Later, bills to implement the total $29.8 million budget and the 3-percent reduction were introduced. The general fund budget for the day-to-day operation of the city would be $21.4 million. The council is likely to consider adopting the budget on Nov. 23, the last regularly scheduled meeting before Florissant’s next fiscal year begins on Dec. 1.
Bethmann said his group couldn’t make any suggestions because it has not had enough time to study the budget. And he warned that the pay cut would make retaining and recruiting police officers harder, setting back the department.
Just after the main budget bill was introduced, Councilman Andrew Podleski, 6th Ward, made a motion for the council to discuss the budget. It failed for lack of a second. Lowery at the end of the meeting defended the city spending plan.
“These are terrible times,” Lowery said. “I do not relish taking money away from employees,” the mayor said as he promised to restore salaries when enough money became available.
“We retained all amenities that make people want to stay in Florissant,” Lowery said.
Podleski ran unsuccessfully against Lowery in April 2007 and continues to be the chief critic of the city budget. After the Monday’s meeting, he suggested the city close its golf course. The budget predicts the golf course would lose nearly $164,000 in the next fiscal year, he noted. When the city is cutting pay, “can it afford a golf course?” he asked.
Like most city governments, the recession has hit Florissant hard by reducing tax income. By Oct. 5, total city receipts were $2.3 million – 10.5 percent – below what the current budget anticipated, Randy McDaniel, the city finance director, told the council in an Oct. 17 budget workshop. The main sales tax revenue was 10 percent under estimate, he said.
The new budget predicts revenue would rise by 0.2 percent, but the city would do that by raising the city’s utilities gross receipts taxes to 7 percent of utility bills from 5 percent. The council can raise the tax without voter approval because the city had lowered the rate in 1997.
Officials also are balancing the budget by making cuts that trim around the edges of its amenities. Among them are:
> Closing the playground program in Bangert Park.
> Reducing the hours of the Bangert Pool and the Koch Aquatic Center.
> Reducing the number of trips in the bus service for the elderly.
> Eliminating overtime in the departments of senior services, theater, community centers and parks.
The budget also calls for using money from its special separate capital improvement and parks improvement funds to pay for items that the general fund had covered. Among them are three park employees to the park improvement fund and four building, equipment and road maintenance accounts to the capital improvement fund.
Meanwhile, Lowery strongly urged residents to cooperate with next year’s federal census. “We could lose a lot of money” — up to $3 million a year — if residents in the city of about 54,000 doesn’t produce a full count, he warned.
The council at a work session before the meeting discussed the possibility of raising park deposits and fees. Ron Veach, the parks director, said the idea is not so much to raise revenue, but to recover by raising deposits the cost of cleaning up the messes that some renters make in pavilions and gyms. The city has not raised most deposits and fees in at least 20 years, Veach said.
Holy Mole! Bob Lowery’s mug shot filled my screen!
Wonder if Lowery knows how dumb his comb over looks?
> When the city is cutting pay, “can it afford a golf course?” he asked.
What Podleski fails to understand is that if Florissant doesn’t have a golf course, it won’t be able to turn its nose up at its neighbors.
I think anyone would complain about a cut in pay?!
There are other similar enterprises in operation in close proximity. Loose that idea and the costs associated with it would help some.
There are so many ways to save but the politicians cant find those ways, its a shame all they want to do is spend money. “
I was told once by one of the best police officers on the force that they are paid quite well for what they do. He said there are only 7-8 officers on the streets at one time, the rest of them are either off, at meetings or performing community work, primarily as “Safety Officers” at various schools. Many of our neighboring communities pay much less than what our officers make yet the crime rates are higher and many of the crimes are much more dangerous. I don’t agree that the reason for this is because our officers are paid more, the reality is that those communities have higher poverty rates leading to more serious crimes. I respect the Florissant Police however 3% off of an average yearly pay rate of $50,000 is minor considering some the cities employees are barely making more than minimum wage, those are the ones that are suffering the most.
JMH….Really?? You really think $50,000 a year is enough pay for risking your life for strangers? Let me ask you this….would you rather have unhappy police officers or unhappy parks department(no offense to the parks dept)or golf course employees? Police officers obviously do not do their job for the pay. If they did, there are many safer jobs that pay a lot more money. They do it because they are kind hearted caring people. They DO NOT expect to become rich doing their jobs. All they ask for is enough money to live on and support their families. Which please keep in mind that their families are left alone at night while they are out protecting your ungreatful rear ends. I do not pray at night for a fancy car, fancy house, or fancy clothes. I pray that my husband comes home unharmed to myself and my kids. Why does my husband want to be a police officer?? I have no idea after reading the ungreatful things people like you say. It’s a good thing he is protecting you and not me. If it was me, it would be every man for themselves.