By Leslie Moriarty
Herald Writer
SULTAN — Police have agreed to give up their cost-of-living allowances and holiday pay for the next 16 months to save their jobs.
Those concessions, made in the face of dwindling city income, average about $4,000 an officer.
Police Chief Fred Walser told the city council’s finance committee Monday that the 12 officers represented by the Teamster’s Union met with him last week. Walser informed them that the budget had to be cut by about 6 percent, and that could mean layoffs.
"The officers are so much a family that they didn’t want to see any of them go without a job," Walser said. "So they were willing to take partial hits themselves instead."
Police spokesman Mitch Moffitt said officers will give up annual cost-of-living raises for the remainder of 2001 and all of 2002.
They also will give up funds for training through 2002 and will convert all banked and future holiday pay into time off throughout 2002.
That will amount to about a 7 percent cut in this year’s police budget.
"The savings for this year is in the $60,000-plus range," he said. "And it’s all a package that will carry over throughout 2002, so we won’t be facing officer layoffs when we begin to plan for the 2002 city budget."
The city was looking at laying off from three to six officers. Some positions are partly funded by federal grants, but would have to be cut before the other regular officers because of contract regulations.
Walser said the proposed concessions by the officers are coupled with other cuts in the department.
"There is no more money for training or for travel," he said. "There’s nothing in the current year budget, now, even for vehicle repair. I guess you could say we’re running the department on fumes."
While he thinks this will solve the current financial woes and enable the city to begin 2002 without cutting positions, "there are no guarantees," he said.
"We’re not in a great situation financially in the city. But these cuts are a place to start from."
Other cuts could come in staffing and daily expenditures by the building department because it also is funded through the general fund, finance committee members said.
Both the clerk’s department and the planning department have open positions and aren’t expected to take additional cuts.
Sultan lost its sales tax equalization money when Initiative 695 went into effect. That initiative dropped the costs of vehicle registration and ended sales tax equalization funding — money the state shares with cities that don’t have a strong sales tax base.
In the case of Sultan, that was near $188,000. And city council members know the loss will hit the city again in 2002.
That’s why the council is looking for ways to cut city spending. Mayor C.H. Rowe said the city needs to cut $106,000 from this year’s budget and will have to look at belt-tightening into 2002, too.
But Rowe said this has nothing to do with a discussion in Sultan several months ago about trying to save money by contracting for police services with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.
"We have talked about that," he said. "But it was clear that the majority of the council and the residents of the city didn’t want that. They want their own police department."
You can call Herald Writer Leslie Moriarty at 425-339-3436
or send e-mail to moriarty@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
