In the wake of a budget deficit due to the loss of VLT revenue in the city of Saratoga Springs, various city departments are being asked to make mid-year cuts, most notably a $1.3 million cut to the Department of Public Safety.
While Commissioner of Finance Kenneth Ivins, Jr. is asking all
departments to make a 3.85 percent cut to their budgets, the Department
of Public Safety was asked to make a similar cut in addition to an
extra $600,000 that the department saved from their budget in 2008.
]"How did we get to these numbers? We had a $600,000 surplus because of saved money last year," Commissioner Ron Kim said during a special City Council meeting Wednesday.
He added that he feels the Department of Public Safety is being penalized for their surplus by doubling the amount of cuts, something that he or his department does not support.
In order to comply with the looming cuts, the department faces the loss of 19 police officers and 14 firefighters since the majority of the $20 million public safety budget covers personnel costs, Kim said.
Aside from staffing cuts, the city would be impacted by losing traffic control officers, crossing guards at schools, a high school resource officer, and the D.A.R.E. program and All-Stars summer camp.
For the fire department, a total of $460,613 will be cut, eliminating fire and EMT training, annual physicals, eliminating vehicle maintenance, a reduction in gas, oil and equipment purchases. Because of the reduction of 14 firefighters, the West Avenue fire station will be forced to close periodically due to a lack of manpower.
"This isn't the way to go. These cuts will lead to injury or death of officers, firefighters and civilians. Response times will be longer. This will not work," Chief Ed Moore said.
So far this year emergency calls are 15 percent higher than one year ago, Moore added. Since the beginning of 2009 there have been 12,044 emergency calls as opposed to 10,469 calls by May 2008.
According to Police Benevolent Association President Edward Lewis, Jr., Saratoga Springs should be adding police to the force, not taking them away.
"Saratoga is about to get much busier and the city is going to need officers to respond to calls. What we cut will be by process of elimination - what isn't an absolute necessity. Officers will be strictly answering calls, no more services for special events or beat police on Broadway," he said. "People are still going to come to Saratoga but there are going to be less emergency services. Things will get out of control."
Lewis said he believes some of the proposed projects in the city such as the South Side recreation center and the proposed public safety building should be put on hold to concentrate on issues such as paid parking that will bring revenue into the city.
"The last thing the city needs is to lose officers and firefighters," he said.
A report by the International Association of Firefighters that was recently commissioned by the Saratoga Springs Fire Department stated that two stations serving 29 square miles is not enough and even recommended that a third station be built.
Firefighter and president of the local firefighters union Kevin Genier said that not only will this affect the city's safety, it will hit people's wallets when fire insurance premiums rise due to reduced fire safety in the city.
"This will be a huge problem," he said. "So many things will be affected -- hazardous material removal, EMS, water rescue to name a few. If the West Avenue station is forced to periodically close, response times across the city will be unreasonable. I can see what the City Council is trying to do but they have to look beyond line items on a piece of paper. These services are essential to the quality of life of the citizens of our city."
Genier said he urges the public to attend the City Council meeting on Tuesday, June 2 at 7 p.m. to voice their opinions on the proposed cuts.
"There will be major ramifications for everyone in the city if these are approved," he said.
]"How did we get to these numbers? We had a $600,000 surplus because of saved money last year," Commissioner Ron Kim said during a special City Council meeting Wednesday.
He added that he feels the Department of Public Safety is being penalized for their surplus by doubling the amount of cuts, something that he or his department does not support.
In order to comply with the looming cuts, the department faces the loss of 19 police officers and 14 firefighters since the majority of the $20 million public safety budget covers personnel costs, Kim said.
Aside from staffing cuts, the city would be impacted by losing traffic control officers, crossing guards at schools, a high school resource officer, and the D.A.R.E. program and All-Stars summer camp.
For the fire department, a total of $460,613 will be cut, eliminating fire and EMT training, annual physicals, eliminating vehicle maintenance, a reduction in gas, oil and equipment purchases. Because of the reduction of 14 firefighters, the West Avenue fire station will be forced to close periodically due to a lack of manpower.
"This isn't the way to go. These cuts will lead to injury or death of officers, firefighters and civilians. Response times will be longer. This will not work," Chief Ed Moore said.
So far this year emergency calls are 15 percent higher than one year ago, Moore added. Since the beginning of 2009 there have been 12,044 emergency calls as opposed to 10,469 calls by May 2008.
According to Police Benevolent Association President Edward Lewis, Jr., Saratoga Springs should be adding police to the force, not taking them away.
"Saratoga is about to get much busier and the city is going to need officers to respond to calls. What we cut will be by process of elimination - what isn't an absolute necessity. Officers will be strictly answering calls, no more services for special events or beat police on Broadway," he said. "People are still going to come to Saratoga but there are going to be less emergency services. Things will get out of control."
Lewis said he believes some of the proposed projects in the city such as the South Side recreation center and the proposed public safety building should be put on hold to concentrate on issues such as paid parking that will bring revenue into the city.
"The last thing the city needs is to lose officers and firefighters," he said.
A report by the International Association of Firefighters that was recently commissioned by the Saratoga Springs Fire Department stated that two stations serving 29 square miles is not enough and even recommended that a third station be built.
Firefighter and president of the local firefighters union Kevin Genier said that not only will this affect the city's safety, it will hit people's wallets when fire insurance premiums rise due to reduced fire safety in the city.
"This will be a huge problem," he said. "So many things will be affected -- hazardous material removal, EMS, water rescue to name a few. If the West Avenue station is forced to periodically close, response times across the city will be unreasonable. I can see what the City Council is trying to do but they have to look beyond line items on a piece of paper. These services are essential to the quality of life of the citizens of our city."
Genier said he urges the public to attend the City Council meeting on Tuesday, June 2 at 7 p.m. to voice their opinions on the proposed cuts.
"There will be major ramifications for everyone in the city if these are approved," he said.
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