Police Committee Minutes 11-15-2021

Publish date: November 15, 2021

Police Committee Minutes 11-15-2021

RUTLAND TOWN SELECTBOARD COMMITTEE MEETING

POLICE COMMITTEE

MONDAY NOVEMBER 15th, 2021

The Police Committee of the Rutland Town Selectboard met at 9:00 AM on Monday November 15th at the Rutland Town Municipal Town Hall. Present was Board Chair Mary Ashcroft, Board Member Sharon Russell, Board Member Don Chioffi, Town Police Chief Ed Dumas, Town Deputy Police Chief Ted Washburn, and Town Administrative Assistant Bill Sweet. There was a conference call line with a publicly accessible and warned phone number in use.

  1. The committee met to discuss the 2022 – 2023 draft budget.
    1. Discussed the income section.
      1. There will be no income from the Omya detail. All outstanding invoices have been paid.
      2. Income for police reports is anticipated to be $1500.
      3. State grant income is anticipated to be $35,000 based on the reimbursement from the Town School for the School Resource Officer. This number will need to be verified. The line name will be updated to be state grant and other income.
      4.  Based on expected increases social security costs are expected to be $25,000.
  1. Reviewed the possible salary rates for the police staff, based on a 3% COLA increase.
    1. The Chief would go to $73,849 based on $34.47 per hour.
    2. The Deputy Chief would go to $69,842 based on $32.60 per hour.
  • The 1st and 2nd officer would be $53,560 based on $25.00 per hour
  1. The is not a part time officer anymore.
  2. Discussed the overtime budget. It is being increased due to increased potential with additional officers.
  3. Discussed using ARPA funds to provide a bonus to town first responders and staff. This topic is better discussed by the full board and will be added to the agenda. The bonus could be used to offset an increase in compensation rates for this year.
  1. Discussed the office staff / admin budget
    1. The current schedule has the admin working at 24 hours per week at $19.89. Chief Dumas said an increase to 28 hours per week is necessary to meet the current workload. Discussed the possible associated benefit costs.
    2. An increase in admin work is expected with the addition of the 4th
  • The Chief and Deputy Chief are both recommending the 28 hours per week minimum and said there is enough work for 32 hours per week.
  1. The new admin rate was proposed to be $20.49 for an annual cost of $34,095.
  1. Chief Dumas recommended keeping communication at $10,000 for now. There is a meeting later this week on the topic of municipalities being charged for dispatch services and what those associated costs may be. Depending on the outcome of this meeting, this item may need to be adjusted.
  2. Supplies and uniforms can decrease due to no large, anticipated need.
  3. Equipment will stay the same, some new speed monitoring systems are being considered.
  4. Vehicle Purchase and Lease. There is 1 vehicle under lease with 2 years remaining on it. Discussed if there is a vehicle information / replacement schedule. Selectwoman Ashcroft asked for this to be started. The Chiefs cruiser is due to be replaced in the coming year but is separate from the fleet schedule and is part of his contract. Approximate figures for a replacement vehicle are not available but average $10,000 per year.
  5. Fuel and maintenance are up due to the rise in fuel costs and another officer on the road.
  6. Training is up to accommodate keeping everyone up on their current certifications and enhancing skills.
  7. Liability and Vehicle insurance is unchanged.
  8. Discussed the health insurance costs. A summary of each participant was reviewed. There are no costs for retirees covered who are not part of the town plan. Discussed covering some of the costs for those individuals. The approximate costs will be included in the total. The anticipated cost to the health insurance line with all the changes is $98,087.
  9. Municipal retirement costs are expected to be $22,030.
  10. There is no change proposed for the K9 program. The only anticipated costs would be food and veterinary costs.
  11. The total draft budget is $505,093 which is a 35% increase.
  12. Once the board has a discussion on salary increases those numbers will be adjusted accordingly.

The meeting adjourned at 10:30 AM

Respectfully submitted, Bill Sweet

Rutland Town News

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