SHAMOKIN - When the city leased a pair of new police cruisers in January, it was done with the thought that revenue from an existing security agreement with Shamokin Housing Authority would cover the cost.
But that agreement was not renewed when the year-to-year contract ended in June, and city officials must find money in the budget each of the next four years for the annual payments.
In addition to the two Ford Crown Victorias, leased for $32,642.44 each, the city also leased a new Ford Explorer in August at $36,099.55. All indications are that officials hoped to renegotiate a higher sum for police patrols at the Raspberry Hill housing complex to cover that cost as well.
While the vehicles aren't expressly listed in separate line items in the 2011 budget, former city Clerk Dave Kinder said the acquisition of all three was
discussed last year, and that the payments hinged on contingency funding.
"A huge part of it was maintaining the contract with the housing authority and raising fees within that contract," Kinder said Wednesday.
With that agreement having ended, "There would have to be someplace else where they would have to find that money," he said.
Mayor George Rozinskie Jr. and current city Clerk Steve Bartos each said the city can afford the new vehicles, despite losing revenue with the agreement not renewed.
Annual payments for the Crown Victorias were made in January. A payment on the Explorer is due now. All three vehicles are leased for five years and can be bought for $1 each once the lease expires.
Bartos said the money for payment of the Explorer could come from the general fund, or could be culled from other accounts.
Sean Sanderson, policy specialist with state Department of Community and Economic Development, said that sounds logical and legal. He described a municipal budget as an educated best guess.
"If something happens unanticipated which changes that best guess, you still have to pay your bills," he said.
Paid patrols
The patrols at Raspberry Hill were in addition to police protection afforded to all city residents and were dictated by a daily schedule. That schedule, provided by the housing authority, called for a greater presence during summer days and weekends and less on winter days and holidays.
Additional services included foot patrols and drug surveillance, according to the contract.
According to a payment schedule provided Wednesday by Bartos, the agreement between the city and the housing authority began in June 2010 and generated $14,150 in revenue.
Ron Miller, executive director of the housing authority, put the payment made to the city under the last security agreement closer to $19,000. He estimated that, considering officers' wages and associated fees and costs, the patrols cost the authority $49.50 an hour.
Miller said Thursday he'd have liked to renew the existing contract with a few "modifications." However, he said when the city sought to raise the cost to approximately $27,000, the authority turned down the offer.
Among many cuts in funding received by the authority from Housing and Urban Development was a nearly $26,000 reduction that would have funded security services, Miller said.
City afloat
Bartos doesn't contend the city's finances are tight, but said it is not flat broke, as was suggested by other city officials earlier this year.
He pointed to corrective actions taken in response to a fiscal analysis performed several years ago by the Pennsylvania Economy League, including switching to a single financial accounting system, reviewing changes to fringe benefits and raising the real estate millage.
The city has also refinanced its outstanding debt - reducing debt by roughly $1.2 million and saving the city $102,000 this year and approximately $25,000 annually through 2016 in payments - and switched electric and cell phone providers, along with saving an estimated $55,000 by switching insurance carriers.
The mayor himself dropped his own city-paid health insurance with an estimated savings of $20,000.
In all, Bartos estimated a combined $250,000 in new savings and revenue was realized this year, noting that while it was predicted the city would fall short of meeting payroll this past summer, Shamokin is still afloat and its bills and employees are still being paid.
The general fund balance was $45,237.09 through September and was closer to $20,000 last week.
Private guards
With the security agreement now null, the authority has since contracted two private security guards through a third-party to patrol Raspberry Hill. One guard works four hours daily and both are paid $10 an hour, Miller said.
At four hours a day each day of the year, the authority pays approximately $14,600 for on-site security. And while the guards can't make arrests, Miller said they're instructed to avoid confrontation and call police when needed. They're also on duty at the complex longer than city officers were under the prior agreement, according to the contract schedule.
Miller said the authority is planning to install security cameras at the complex.
New budget
Bartos, the mayor and council are working on the 2012 budget, which must be passed in December. He estimated it at $2.6 million and said the cost for the vehicles must be budgeted within that amount.
"Whatever we're going to do has to be within that $2.6 million," Bartos said, noting if money has to be moved or cuts made, it will be done.
All three vehicles were leased for five years. A fourth vehicle, a pickup truck for the street department, is paid for with liquid fuels funding.
The last time the city purchased new police cruisers was in 2006, Rozinskie said. Chief Edward Griffiths saying the vehicles were badly needed, especially the SUV, according to the mayor.
Asked why the city thought to fund three five-year lease agreements on revenue brought in through a year-to-year contract, Rozinskie said they tried to lock in the authority to longer terms.
"We couldn't get them for five (years). I wish we could. They wouldn't go along with it," Rozinskie said.