City Staff Battles San Angelo Police Over Budget

 

Discussions at an San Angelo Police Department Meet and Confer meeting Friday turned heated as City finance staff and the Chief of Police debated over police budget shortfalls following a previous week's proposal to gradually increase officer salaries to mirror the average of comparable “benchmark cities”.

Allegations of mismanagement and denied requests for additional funding flew back and forth as city staffers and the Chief of Police delved into various areas of the PD’s annual budget over-expenditures.

“When you look at the overages in our budget, a majority of that—possibly all of that—is stuff that I have zero control over,” Chief Tim Vasquez stated. “I don’t set those budget lines, I don’t have control of those monies, but those monies are allocated. This isn’t the first year we’ve gone over budget, we’ve gone over budget every year.”

In 2013, the SAPD exceeded their budget by approximately $667,000. By Vasquez’s estimation, those excesses will be in the ballpark of $723,000 in 2014. Vasquez says there have been significant over-expenditures every year, however requests for more funds to cover those expenses have fallen on deaf ears.

“We do not run a zero balanced budget. We never have as long as I’ve been Chief. Gasoline, I needed an extra $130,000. Did I get that? No,” Vasquez said.

Hefty portions of budget excess stem from expenses that are uncontrollable, Vasquez said. He named fuel costs, electricity and water expenses, and overtime as examples.

When the SAPD proposed a salary increase that would put them in the range of comparable cities called “benchmark cities,” City staff asked the PD to have its officers assess areas in which money could be saved and the budget could be stretched in an effort to cover the costs.

City Manager Daniel Valenzuela explained that City income generated from the half-cent sales tax and other areas could be used to aid the SAPD’s flailing budget, but that those funds are also needed elsewhere and would not completely cover the funding needed. As a means to an end, Valenzuela questioned whether the PD’s budget was as efficient as it could be.

“One thing I’ve learned through my experience is that front line staff workers, people that are actually out there, a lot of times come up with some really good ideas,” Valenzuela said. “A lot of times they’re driving around thinking, ‘Wait a minute, why are we doing things this way? If we were to change things up a little bit, we could actually save some money this way and make it easier for us.’

“That’s what we’re looking for. I’m just looking for ideas, perhaps that may be out there that haven’t been explored, that may free up some monies and allow us to make these adjustments accordingly,” he explained.

Chief Vasquez was absent at the previous meeting due to another engagement in Austin, and was not fond of the idea that his officers be requested to dig through the department’s financials.

“I think it’s unfair to have our officers try to dissect our budget and determine where to make cuts when they don’t have the authority to do that,” Vasquez said. Sergeant Korby Kennedy agreed, stating that the final decision rests with the Chief in administration, not with the officers in patrol cars.

As the discussion moved toward generating revenue, the divide in the meeting space widened. While the City was pushing to cut costs and possibly make money, the Chief reiterated that his budget was already beyond maxed out and added that the police department has already taken measures to reduce expenses by merging and eliminating positions, and cutting back on equipment and maintenance costs.

“One of the things you said a minute ago that concerned me," Vasquez addressed Valenzuela. "You’re looking for ways to generate revenue, how do we go about generating revenue? We’ve got alarm fees...we’ve got photo fees, we’ve got wreck reports, we’ve got auction fees and seizure money…” Vasquez said, noting that the police department is not a money-making organization.

“Chief, you failed to mention one item there,” Valenzuela retorted. “When you start looking at the number of accidents that have gone up over this past year. You can attribute that to…more oil and gas people in our area, but it also goes back to educating our community. Those that are driving our streets—pulling them over, giving them warnings or giving them tickets. When traffic accidents start going up, we need to take action also to make sure we can reduce those.”

Valenzuela stressed that the City is not telling the police to write more tickets, but emphasized that those citations are a large source of revenue. Chief Vasquez responded that the goal of the department is not to issue citations, but to fight crime, and that the culture of police work has changed over the years to place focus on real crime, not on passing out tickets for minor traffic violations.

While the number of accidents has risen over the past couple of years, the number of tickets issued has fallen, a trend Vasquez says is typical of the nation. Conversely, traffic stops have increased, however Vasquez explained that his force are not pressured to issue citations for infractions such as no turn signal or a license plate light, as the stops are often made to educate citizens and to check for additional suspicious or criminal activity, such as possession of drugs or alcohol.

Self-initiated police activity, such as traffic stops, has increased since 2003, Vasquez said. Whereas in 2003, 85 percent of police work stemmed from calls for service, in 2013 that had fallen to approximately 55 percent, the Chief stated.

“I do understand as far as service calls and so forth, but those are things that we need to make sure we take a look at and say we’re doing everything we possibly can,” Valenzuela said, “to make our streets safer, part of the residual is the money that would come in after that.”

After several minutes of discussion, Vasquez wanted to know how his overdrawn budget is paid. “How in the world can the San Angelo Police Department go over $667,000 and the City not bat an eye and pay for it?” Vasquez asked. “Where does that money come from? That’s always been my question. If it comes from other departments, then those other departments were over-budgeted, dramatically.”

While Valenzuela explained that part of the money comes from revenues generated from the half-cent sales tax, Chief Financial Officer and Assistant City Manager Michael Dane interjected that a large portion comes from other departments that have managed their budgets and had money left over at the end of the year. “Managed. Managed. Managed,” Dane said, gradually growing louder as the Chief continued.

“So you tell me how you want me to manage my fuel expenses. I can park cars, if that’s what you want. I can tell you every year we’re close to $400,000 in [fuel expenses]. Every year, I get 200,000,” Vasquez said. Then the Chief addressed another of the department’s most hefty areas of overage. “If you look at overtime, the majority of it comes from shortages—almost all of it comes from shortages—and it comes from functions…that we have to do traffic control. We have more and more and more events occurring in our community and we are responsible for the traffic on our public streets, so we eat that overtime,” he said.

Councilman Rodney Fleming, who was present at the meeting, stepped in to state that as third party, he could understand the arguments of both sides, but was concerned that there might be an issue with the entire budgeting process.

“What I’m not understanding on this though, we’re way short on this every year, so your budget is not set right,” Fleming said. “I agree with him (Chief Vasquez) on the gas costs and a number of that stuff, and you guys—finance guys—are trying to put a number on things that you probably don’t understand fully. He has to have that much overtime, he has to have that much gas, he has to have those vehicles and things…It sounds like to me that the budget needs to be adjusted.”

Fleming suggested that the issue be brought before City Council, in an effort to address the police department’s needs.

“He did tell you he needed it, and we passed his need along to you, and Council said no,” Dane said. “…all of the expanded level requests, Council said no.” Dane stated that the requests were in fact sent out twice the last time around, however Council chose not to approve them either time. To this, Fleming stated that having been present and heard the arguments made at the meeting, he'd be more receptive to the PD's needs the next time the issue is brought forth.

For roughly an hour and a half, the discussion continued as it had began--each taking jabs at one another for holding conflicting points of view. Following a brief break, the City and the Chief had yet to meet any immediate resolution, but eventually agreed to begin pouring over the department's budget and discussing troubled areas in greater detail. 

The next meeting will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 1 p.m. in City Hall. On the agenda is a discussion of the SAPD’s vehicle maintenance procedures, where costs of oil, parts and repair from both outside and internal entities will be discussed. 

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Bill Richardson, Mon, 01/20/2014 - 12:33
Fleming has had a year to bring himself up to speed on the issues the San Angelo Police Department is facing. He has twice rejected the SAPD's requests. Is this a coincidence he is concerned now because he is facing re-election challenges? These same issues where discussed during the May 2013 election campaign. Where was Fleming?
Bill, First off I'd like to point out that Rodney has only been in office for 8 months and has been putting in HOURS of his time into this. Secondly, he is 1 of 7 that makes decisions on matters. He is relying on information they are given and working out accounting issues that have been ongoing LONG before his 8 months in office. Lastly, instead of throwing him under the bus and mud slinging when you have no idea how much time and energy he has put into this situation how about you go back and read the packet that you just picked up when you decided to run against him again and read the part where it says that you should run an ethical campaign instead of starting out this way and making the issue at hand about you and your opinions. Thank you!
Bill Richardson, Tue, 01/21/2014 - 01:43
Perhaps you should stick to the issue instead of launching a personal attack. Or perhaps read the propaganda your husband, Rodney Fleming, sent out last time and look at what he actually did. Rodney Fleming's campaign propaganda claimed he was the only "true conservative" while being the only SMD1 candidate to agree to take $2,000 from the firefighter's union. (city employees.) Rodney Fleming is the only member of city council to pound his fist in public session screaming he was angry rather than taking the time to listen and try to understand the public's point of view. Even thought Rodney Fleming took $2,000 from the Austin based Texas Real Estate and claimed to represent San Angelo real estate agents his understanding of the San Angelo real estate market was opposed and proven wrong in front of city council and the public by local realtors. It is unfortunate Rodney Fleming spent a lot of time on the issues but still does not understand the issues. SMD1 deserves better. We are not going to roll over and put up with Rodney Fleming's bully and ignorance for another year. We want to properly fund and support the San Angelo Police Department so they have the equipment to do their job. With the proper weapons to protect themselves and the public. We do not support Rodney Fleming's position that SAPD patrol officers should pay for their own weapons. There will be no free ride for Rodney Fleming.
Ok, My Mom always taught me to be proper and not give in to the behavior of others that is inappropriate, but one more response and then you can continue your rant. 1. Rodney IS a true conservative...yet another reason why he was so upset and "pounding his fist in anger" when the issue came up about our water situation! He will continue to pound his fist in anger until we all realize how serious our water situation is. That is something he ran on in his "propaganda" and will continue to work hard on. He DID take $2000 from the fireman union for his campaign, but all the other candidates in all the other districts interviewed for the funds and were all given the same opportunity for that contribution AND a candidate from each district received the same amount. I'm sorry that candidate was not you. 2. In response to your comment about him being proved wrong by our fellow Realtors. Again, he is human and makes mistakes. This was one situation out of many that you were aware of. There were many other that he was an asset to. I too am a Realtor and feel I'm pretty good at my job, but the other day I was driving clients around and I turned down the wrong street and had to make a u- turn. I guess that makes me incompetent too in my field. 3. I think your response to him being a bully and ignorant just goes back to your character as a person and how you handle situations. In our business we are taught to only talk about what you can do for others not talk bad about others to get what you want. That goes against the Golden Rule. 4. How about you visit with the San Angelo PD and see what they say about how much Rodney has helped them and how much time he has put into this issue. They are the ones that matter. 5. Rodney doesn't and will never expect a free ride. He has worked for everything he has accomplished and will continue to do so. He is only in this position to help San Angelo. We own our own business and have 3 kids and believe me he has a lot of other things he can be doing and working on and he chose to do this because he loves this town and the people and this is where we are raising our kids and grandchildren someday. He's not just doing it because he wants a free ride...to where anyway?
Bill Richardson, Tue, 01/21/2014 - 17:23
Ms. Fleming you are entitled to your opinion however I believe everyone who has a grasp of the issues facing San Angelo and has observer your husband's actions will strongly disagree with you.
Bill Richardson, Tue, 01/21/2014 - 19:10
Rodney Fleming attempts to put his liberal philosophy into action by proposing to limit individual liberties. San Angelo City Council Meeting held on Tuesday August 6, 2013 at 9:00 A.M. McNease Convention Center, South Meeting Room, 500 Rio Concho Drive, San Angelo Beware that Rodney Fleming has called for a ban on the use of fireworks by the public at the Twin Buttes Reservoirs. Agenda item #26. "Discussion and possible action on prohibiting fireworks at Twin Buttes Reservoir. (requested by Councilmember Fleming.)
As former PD, I can say with absolute certainty that our budget in our particular division was cut back to bare bones. There were no new hires in a division for 3 empty positions for almost a year due to budget issues. The amount of mandatory overtime those staff members had to take was insane. We also went 3 months with a broken printer. Color copies were all but disabled- black and white copies only. Not a big deal unless you need evidence photos in color for court. But we got creative..... emailed things to judges and attorneys instead of printing them off. My question is, while we were scrimping and saving on office supplies and much needed staff replacement, were the other city departments doing the same? Were they restricting their electricity usage at peak hours of the day and canceling training seminars for the sake of budget? Cancelling cellphone contracts to go to cheaper companies? Because SAPD was doing all of that and was STILL severely overbudget. Those other departments "Managed, managed, managed" quite easily. Maybe their budget was a little cush to begin with. I can also say that in the position I held, had I been in the Abilene area, I would've been paid a minimum of $8,000 more a year. Dont get me started on what I could've been making in Dallas. San Angelo citizens deserve better. Chief Vasquez was right in his point: Sapd is not a fund raising organization. They are there to prevent and reduce crime- not write tickets for every burnt out brake light.
Bill Richardson, Wed, 01/22/2014 - 19:30
Thank you for coming forward with the information you have provided. The public does not know the full story. During the last election campaign I discussed the needs of the SAPD I knew of from public disclosure and observation. The local press has not helped your situation. In my interview with the San Angelo Standard Times the Jack Cowen was not aware that the SAPD had to park vehicles in the "Lowes" parking lot. Lowes is the grocery store on south Main Street, formerly an IGA. I believe this is the second time SAPD officers have had to pay out of pocket for "defensive weapons" to match the fire power of the "bad guys" in the past few years. If police officers do not have the equipment to protect themselves they cannot protect the public. One of my proposals during the last election campaign was to give you guys the latest in technology such as GIS technology which would give you instant information on any property within the city limits you where called to and vehicular accident recreation software plus better vehicular accident investigation training. I am sure there are many areas of training which could be improved with increased funding. I also supported building a new, modern police headquarters and bringing salaries/wages up to par with other Texas cities of the same size as San Angelo. We have the tax base to support this.
Bill Richardson, Wed, 01/22/2014 - 20:30
As for accumulated sick pay the unused funds should be put into a health savings account accessible to all officers. The administration of the fund to be administered by the officer's representatives. Regular sick days are fine for minor illnesses however a major illness such as heath disease or cancer can bankrupt a family very quickly. As for overtime police officers should not work overtime unless it is mandatory. A public service which is taken for granted is quickly noticed when it is no longer there.
First, I recognize the City Manager is in a tough spot. I believe he has little money available, because the money is mishandled or prioritized wrongly. He didn’t create this mess, but has to do the best with the cards he was dealt. I am not a Police Officer, never have been. I have known several (not three or four, several) Police Officers who have moved and went to different police departments, because San Angelo’s poor pay and benefits. I know two more that are planning on leaving in the next year if their pay doesn’t go up. Someone mentioned making them sign penalty clauses to stay in town, they already do this and the other towns fart and pay these clauses off. San Angelo is not a great place to live, it is okay, but not worth taking less money to stay here. By less money I am talking $10,000 a year ballpark. Think about that if you care about your safety. That is one used 2011 Toyota Yaris they could be buying every year. Some of the best and probably the smartest (in my opinion) are leaving for the more money every year. I would leave if I was in their situation. They get better healthcare, weapons, vehicles, too. The city relies HEAVILY on PD loyalty and officers not wanting to uproot themselves/family to keep YOUR streets safe. They reasonably ask their pay to be brought near other comparable city’s PDs, not Dallas or Austin, and the response is the police budget is overspent. The budget is a separate issue than officer compensation. The fact the city gives them so much for gas means nothing to the officer who is going to leave for more money. These people respond to your cries of help risking their lives; and go to your house for stupid 911 calls regarding your drunken family drama. Plus now they have to deal with oil roughnecks driving like crazy people and getting into bar fights. They deserve better than this garbage. There is no city with a comparable population that pays less than San Angelo. Maybe instead of a 2.25% raise, they give them the option of having a Sheep put in front of their house. It gives them something for their amazing loyalty. Find the money and give them a reasonable raise.
SAPD destroys the guns they confiscate. They destroyed several expensive collectable firearms. One Colt they destroyed was worth more than $1,500.00. If they want to pay cops more, generate income by selling these firearms through authorized dealers.
Mr Myers, it would be absurd to destroy a perfectly functional weapon. For your info, a private company does come in and pay the SAPD fair market value for every weapon that is seized. There's no cop out back beating up guns with a hammer. Come on now.

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