Keep New Middletown safe: Vote for police levy

Opinion: November 2, 2016 at 12:00a.m.

Let me start by SAYING I don’t want to pay more taxes, much like everyone else. But sometimes, it becomes necessary and worthwhile.

The New Middletown Village Council approved placing a new 2.0-mill police levy on the Nov. 8 ballot. At the end of 2015 and beginning of 2016, council reviewed the Police Department’s expenses, line by line. Wages had only increased slightly over the past four years.

Health care, on the other hand, had significant increases, to the point that they had increased over $20,000 a year from 2012. Our officers are paying a larger co-pay as well.

The police are currently funded by a total of 10 mills specifically for the police. This generates a little over $245,000 annually. The general fund has historically supplemented the police with $25,000 to $35,000 annually as well.

Between 2013-2015, the general fund supplement was a total of $200,000. The general fund cannot maintain this without it running out of monies.

In 2009, we started around-the-clock coverage, with the help of a grant that allowed us to hire another full-time officer. A 2-mill levy was added in 2011, allowing us to maintain the 24- hour coverage.

So here we are in late 2016. We are at a point where we need more revenue to maintain the status quo. The other option would be to reduce coverage back to the 2008 levels, where few night shifts were covered.

Our department is manned by four full-time officers and the remainder of coverage by part-time officers. Our fleet of vehicles consists of one 2007 Cruiser and two 2010 Cruisers and one 2010 Expedition. The last two vehicles, including the Expedition, were purchased used from other departments in 2013 and 2015. We haven’t spent a lot of money on vehicles.

We are fortunate to have a low crime rate. This can be attributed to the high visibility of our officers and our around-the-clock coverage. We don’t want to take a step backwards now. Council is asking for your support in passing the 2.0-mill police levy this month.

Robert Carson, New Middletown

Carson is a member of New Middletown Village Council and chairman of its finance committee.

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