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Warren accepts federal grant to hire police officers
BY Ed Runyan
WARREN
City officials have accepted a $375,000 federal Community Oriented Policing Services grant that pays part of the cost to hire three police officers.
It’s unclear, however, whether the money will be used to pay for three officers hired last month or more officers in the spring.
Enzo Cantalamessa, Warren safety-service director, said the police department already was making plans to hire three additional officers when it learned in September that it had been approved for the COPS grant.
The three new officers came on board Nov. 10, but a few weeks later, city council approved the reduction of three management positions within the department — one captain, one lieutenant and one sergeant.
One officer in each of those positions is retiring soon, so each vacancy will remain unfilled, Cantalamessa said, adding that the reductions were made to “smart-size” the department because it is “top heavy” and because of an expected $800,000 drop in city income-tax revenue this year.
The reduction of the three management positions is expected to save about $400,000.
City council’s finance committee will talk about the 2015 budget proposal from the city administration today.
The budget proposal is $24,950,000, which is $1.5 million less than the $26.5 millon approved last year. The city expects to have revenue of about $25 million at the end of this year, compared with $26.7 million in 2013, according to the Warren auditor’s office.
City officials say the reduced revenue primarily is the result of lost income-tax revenues at factories such as General Electric’s Ohio Lamp Plant, RG Steel and Delphi Packard Electric.
The city will be budgeting about $500,000 less for health care and $500,000 less for worker’s compensation, said David Griffing, Warren auditor. The city plans to maintain services at the same level as 2014, said Doug Franklin, Warren mayor.
The COPS grant requires the city to pay close to $300,000 in matching money over three years to get the $375,000 grant, so Cantalamessa anticipates using the grant for the three officers already hired.
A decision on whether to hire any additional officers will most likely come in early 2015, depending on how the city’s revenues look at that time, Cantalamessa said.
The police department currently has 65 officers, including Police Chief Eric Merkel. It had more than 80 officers in late 2008 before economy-driven layoffs.