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Item 5.10. <br /> <br />Police Department <br /> <br />MEMORANDUM <br /> <br />TO: <br /> <br />FROM: <br /> <br />DATE: <br /> <br />SUBJECT: <br /> <br />Mayor and City Council <br /> <br />Jeffrey A. Beahen, Chief of Police <br /> <br />April 7, 2004 <br /> <br />COPS Grant <br /> <br />On March 19, 2004 we received an approval letter from the U.S. Department of Justice <br />under the COPS Universal Hiring Program for a grant for two full-time new, additional <br />officer positions. <br /> <br />The estimated amount of federal funds to be awarded to our jurisdiction over the three-year <br />grant period is $150,000.00. The grant start date is March 1, 2004. This is a matching grant <br />with participation on our level requiting increasing matches of wage and benefits over the <br />three-year period. (See Grant Application for details) <br /> <br />Although we have not yet received our grant award package, I have spoken to our grant <br />advisor who has informed me that we can start the hiring process now to take full advantage <br />of the award. <br /> <br />If we start the process now, we would have to commit to spending an additional $17,687 in <br />wages for the year 2004 that were not budgeted for. I am proposing that through budget <br />restrictions and reallocation of funds from training and overtime, that I should be able to <br />meet these additional financial needs by strict fiscal management. If for some reason the <br />budget becomes too tight later in the year, I would approach the Council and request a <br />budget amendment. <br /> <br />The grant offers us the ability to pay for two new officers while receiving in return over 50% <br />of the new officer's wages and benefits for the fzrst three-years. This is a very valuable grant <br />and one that allows us to add officers to our force while in turn offering very significant <br />savings in our operating budget. We had planned to add two officers to the patrol force in <br />2005, bringing our patrol force to full strength on all four shifts. Currently two of the shifts <br />are each short an officer. <br /> <br />The grant as written would have required that we pay $10,095 the first year per officer for <br />wages and benefits while the grant provided for an amount of $30,286 per officer. The wage <br />and benefit allowance was based on 2002 wages and benefit costs. These have risen since <br /> <br /> <br />