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Youngstown officials OK plan to reduce job losses
Council approved legislation to get 160 Tasers for its police department.
YOUNGSTOWN — City council ratified an early-retirement incentive with the union representing its ranking police officers that is expected to reduce, and possibly eliminate, job losses in that department.
Also at Wednesday’s meeting, city council approved legislation to provide 160 Tasers to the police department.
The Youngstown Police Ranking Officers will vote early next week on a plan that would give a year’s base salary paid evenly over five years to each officer taking the incentive.
The union’s leadership approved the proposal Friday. The union represents the department’s 66 sergeants, detective sergeants, lieutenants and captains.
The city’s board of control also must approve the buyout offer. That approval is expected shortly after the union approves the buyout offer, said Mayor Jay Williams, board chairman.
City administrators will meet Tuesday with officials from the Youngstown Police Association, which represents about 115 patrol officers, to discuss the same incentive.
YPA officials have said the union membership is interested in the proposal.
The incentive could be withdrawn if not enough officers take it, Williams said.
The mayor doesn’t know how many are needed for the deal to be implemented, but it must be enough to generate savings for the city.
The city took action last year to eliminate through attrition the number of ranking officers to 39.
But to get the union to take the buyout offer, the city increased that minimum ranking officer staffing number to 50, Williams said.
How many retired officers will be replaced depends on money, Williams said.
Williams wants to discuss a reduction in the entry-level annual salary for patrol officers, currently about $37,000, to hire more officers.
The city’s 2009 general fund budget included $860,000 in personnel cuts, including $655,000 from the police department.
That equates to up to 34 city workers, including 22 to 26 police officers, losing their jobs.
Council also authorized the police department to seek proposals to lease or buy 160 Tasers for its officers.
The city will use federal grant money for the stun guns.
The lease option, $25,000 a year, is much more likely than buying them, a $160,000 purchase, police Chief Jimmy Hughes said.
Williams said he’s aware of the “concerns and issues” about the use of Tasers. But said he’s confident the training and education given to officers as to how to use the stun guns will be sufficient.
Written policies and procedures on using the Tasers will be in place before training with the weapons begins, Hughes said in response to a question from Councilman John Swierz, D-7th.
Council also approved raising the monthly garbage collection fee for residents from $11.75 to $13.75 beginning July 1.
That is expected to increase city income by $250,000 this year, city Finance Director David Bozanich said.
Council also approved raising the monthly rate to $14.75 beginning Jan. 1, 2010, and to $15.75, effective Jan. 1, 2011.
The increases are expected to net $1.5 million in additional revenue through the end of 2011.
Because of expected rate increases from Waste Management, the city’s trash collection vendor, the city will keep $900,000 of that increase, Bozanich said.
Even with the increases, the city’s rate is among the cheapest in the Mahoning Valley, Williams said.
skolnick@vindy.com