Assignment 3

Budget for Police Department Little Rock

Name

Professor’s Name

Course Title

20th January, 2020

Introduction

The police department provides law enforcement services to the citizens of Little Rock which include preserving law and order, enforcement of state laws and city ordinances and protecting life and property. This is done through utilizing departmental, civic and community resources effectively. It is head by the police chief whose office is currently vacant and he or she is answerable to the mayor. The department has the biggest budgetary and full time staff allocation compared to all the other departments and agencies in Little Rock. The department boasts of several accreditations including one from the Commission on Law Enforcement Agencies.

The police department has goals and objectives that connect with the policy of the board of director’s statement of management for a safe city. The mission of the police department is to protect life and property by teaming up with the community while adopting shared respect and understanding. The department aims at providing professional services that are unbiased, open and consistent. This entails receiving and responding to all calls for service without any form of discrimination and responding at the shortest time possible. The goal of the police department in the city of Little Rock is the provision of a law enforcement system that will efficiently blend and employ departmental, civic and community resources in order to protect life and property, maintain law and order, compel state laws and city rules within the structure of the constitution. The objective of the police department is to answer incoming 9-1-1 calls in less than 20 seconds and to respond to high priority calls in less than 10 minutes. This has been achieved in the past three years with the average response time being 7.1 minutes while the average percentage of calls answered in 20 seconds or less being 90.3%.

Budget Overview

The budget for the year 2019 for the city of Little Roc shows an increase in the allocation for the police department. The city’s general fund revenue includes reimbursement from the airport towards expenses related to the police. These reimbursements have decreased for the year 2019 by over 13% to $1.61 million. The other revenues include police report and false report totaling to $2,451,000. The police department budget of $78,785,071 if funded by the general fund. The expenditure for the department which is adopted for the year 2019 includes; salaries and employee benefits at $71,799,447, supplies and materials 2,209,407, contractual 2,291,313 and repairs and maintenance 2,484,904 all totaling to 78,785,071. The current increase is attributed to increased salary and benefits by approximately $2.4 million, the filling of vacant positions for 911 call takers, increased fuel costs and vehicle maintenance and approximately $400,000 to absorb 15 police officers provided by a grant that expires in February. The maintenance of vehicles increased due to increased staffing that requires an increase in the number of vehicles being deployed. The position of police chief will be funded by revenue from the operating portion of the new sales tax from the general fund.

The police department budget accounts for 37.41% of the general fund for 2019. The budget is allocated to salaries and benefits, repairs and maintenance, supplies and materials and contractual works. The budget shows an increase in pension costs for police uniformed personnel by 21.23% of payroll. The budget also shows allocation for new staff in the department including police officers and call takers. A 2.5% increase in salaries for uniformed personnel is catered for in the budget. The city has a capital projects fund which accounts for the proceeds of a 3/8 local sales tax for funding capital projects. The department capital projects like police equipment, police safety radio, 911 and 311 communication software, 12th street police station, fleet for new staff, police headquarters and West Little Rock police department are in the fund that runs for 10 years from 2012 to 2021. The financial year 2019 the department will lease 49 vehicles at a cost of $256,800 and give 49 vehicles uplift at a cost of $135,600. The estimated expenditure on capital projects for 2019 is portable radios is $1,475,000 and computer aided dispatch systems $2,900,000. The city has a debt policy where it does not use old debts to finance current operations.

Cost Analysis

Fixed costs

These are costs that do not change regardless of changes in volume. The department has fixed costs like vehicle lease and salaries. The vehicle lease of $256,800 will not change regardless to whether the department decides to hire more police officers. The rate is flat at an annual fee. There was a salary increase of 2.5% which is effective at the beginning of the financial year. The cost for salary will not change regardless of increase in output.

Step-fixed costs

These costs remain constant for given level of activity and will increase or decrease once the base is crossed. The department had to take in new staff to cover for increased activity. The new staff included 911 call takers and Cops.

Variable costs

These are costs that vary in direct proportion to the changes in the level of activity. The changes in prices of fuel have an influence in the cost of supplies and material. The variable costs for the police department are the supplies and materials costs. These costs vary with the changes in the level of activity as they either decrease or increase.

Budget Challenges

There are several budget challenges experienced when preparing a budget for such a big department. One of the challenges that I will have in maintaining the budget is the expectations of the citizens of Little Rock. The citizens have a lot of demands and expectations which are supposed to be fulfilled with leveling revenue. This becomes even difficult when there is lack of communication whereby there is no one to tell the public that the resources are not enough to cater for all their increasing demands and expectations. The information used to prepare the current estimates was gathered from previous years while other information was provided by the city and also based on assumptions. In case some of the information is inaccurate and there are major changes in the environment, this will heavily affect the cost structure and the actual results will deviate from the budget. In the scenario of an economic meltdown the budget cannot authorize the level of spending that in not sustainable due to reduced revenue.

Budget Recommendations

The first strategy is the personnel strategy. This involves being aware that talent is easier lost than employed. Staff costs cover over 70% of the department budget and it is advised to make cut backs on staff should be done as a last resort and not implemented annually. However the department should ensure that a system that will cut back of staff expenditure including decreasing in calls for service and developing a multiyear staffing plan that will check on all scenarios of officer workload.

The second strategy involves eliminating pet projects. Pet projects in the department include latest training program for officers, computerized crime fighting equipment and specially outfitted vehicles. These can be avoided especially when resources are limited and can be directed to more demanding projects. The strategy involves assessing such projects against the goals of the police department in protecting life and property. The old-age wisdom of under promising and over delivering can be applied as a strategy for new initiatives and budget cuts for the police department of Little Rock. This involves avoiding giving any justification for distinct outcomes

City of Little Rock, Arkansas 2019 Operating Budget

Police Department

Expenditure Budget

	2017	2018	2019
	Actual	Adopted	Adopted
Description	Expenditure	Budget	Budget
Salaries and Employee Benefits	$62,640,843	$68,962,627	$71,799,447
Supplies and Materials	1,847,905	2,071,991	2,209,407
Contractual	2,619,553	2,293,892	2,291,313
Repairs and Maintenance	2,333,244	2,414,477	2,484,904
Total	$69,453,081	$75,742,987	$78,785,071

References

2019 Annual Operating Budget City of Little Rock, Arkansas. Retrieved from https://www.littlerock.gov/media/5337/city-of-little-rock-2019-budget-document.pdf

Measuring the Costs of Police Services. (1982). U.S. Department of Justice. National Institute of Justice

Barry Reynolds. (2014). Leadership, Management, and Policing. Retrieved from https://www.policeone.com/police-leader/articles/5-strategies-for-managing-your-police-agencys-budget-TASf3UPHr1cWgwPg/