HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/21/2011AMENDED
HUMAN RESOURCES CO I "EE
4:55 p.m. Monday, March 21, 2011
City Council Chambers
715 Mulberry Street
Waterloo, Iowa 50703
Roll Call
Ron Welper, Chairperson
Quentin Hart
Carolyn Cole
Approval of Agenda
1. Request from Director of Safety Services Trelka for authorization to make four
appointments to Police Officer from a current Civil Service List.
Adjournment
Suzy Schares
City Clerk
CITY OF WATERLOO
Council Communication
City Council Meeting: 03/21/2011
Prepared: March 10, 2011
Dept. Head Signature: Dan Trelka, Chief of Police
# of Attachments: 0
SUBJECT: Permission to hire four (4) police officers to fill vacancies
Submitted by: Dan Trelka, Chief of Police
Recommended City Council Action: Grant permission to hire four (4) police officers to fill
vacancies from the current civil service list.
Summary Statement: The police department currently has four police officer positions open due
to recent retirements/resignation. With the current COPPs grant we must file those positions as
soon as possible to remain compliant.
Expenditure Required: Yes, Funds allocated during FY11 budget process
Source of Funds: General fund
Policy Issue: None
Alternative: None
Background Information: We have had three retirements and one resignation; Officer Loney,
Sgt Meyer, Capt Beckman, Sgt Chapman in the past few months, leaving four vacancies. In order
to keep overtime and recall to a minimum on the Patrol Watches and assure adequate staffing we
would like to fill these vacancies. We have funds to facilitate a payout of benefits, and funds to
facilitate this in our salary line item.
HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE
4:55 p.m. Monday, March 21, 2011
City Council Chambers
715 Mulberry Street
Waterloo, Iowa 50703
Roll Call
Ron Welper, Chairperson
Quentin Hart
Carolyn Cole
Approval of Agenda
1. Request from Director of Safety Services Trelka for authorization to make five
appointments to Police Officer from a current Civil Service List.
Adjournment
Suzy Schares
City Clerk
CITY OF WATERLOO
Committee Communication
Human Resource, Finance and Public Safety Committee Meeting: 3/21/2011
Created on March 10, 2011
Dept. Head Signature: Dan Trelka, Chief of Police
# of Attachments: 0
SUBJECT: Permission to hire five (5) police officers from the civil service list to be
ceritified on o3/18/2o11.
Submitted by: Dan Trelka, Chief of Police
Recommended City Council Action: Grant permission to hire five (5) police officers
from the current civil service list to be certified on o3/18/2oii.
Summary Statement: The police department currently has four police officer positions
open due to recent retirements. Sgt Sue Holms will be retiring on o3/31/2ou, leaving five
positions open. With the current COPPs grant we must file those positions as soon as
possible to remain compliant.
Expenditure Required: No
Source of Funds: General Fund, Salary, budgeted in FY il.
Policy Issue: None
Alternative: None
Background Information: None
Mayor
BUCK
CLARK
COUNCIL
MEMBERS
DAVID
JONES
Ward 1
CAROLYN
COLE
Ward 2
HAROLD
GETTY
Ward 3
QUENTIN M.
HART
Ward 4
RON
WELPER
Ward 5
BOB
GREENWOOD
At -Large
STEVE
SCHMITT
At -Large
CITY OF WATERLOO, IOWA
CITY CLERK AND FINANCE DEPARTMENT
715 Mulberry Street • Waterloo, IA 50703 • (319) 291-4323 Fax (319) 291-4571
SUZY SCFLARES • City Clerk MICHELLE WEIDNER; CPA • Chief Financial Officer
March 21, 2011
Mayor Clark
Council Members
RE: Request to fill Police Officer Positions
I am writing in regard to the request to fill four vacant police officer positions. As the
city's Chief Financial Officer, I am very concerned about how the city will be able to pay
the five officers that were hired under the COPS grant in the year following the grant
expiration. As you know, the city is required to pay 100% of the cost for those five
positions for one year at the end of the grant funding. Based on past tax base growth, the
possibility of a rollback being implemented for commercial property and a potential
reduction in revenue from the casino, it appears that the city will have a very difficult
task balancing the budget in the future. Adding $350,000 - $400,000 in new expenses in
that year will make it that much more difficult.
If these positions are not filled at this time and the COPS grant is repaid now, the city's
liability to repay the grant would be less than if we have to do it a year or two from now.
The longer that we wait to do that, the more expensive it will be to repay the grant if we
find that we cannot afford to continue to pay these officers.
I believe that it would be prudent for you to carefully consider the approval to fill these
positions at this time. According to the information that has been provided to me, it does
not appear likely that there will be this number of vacant positions in the near future.
Sincerely,
Michelle C. Weidner, CPA
Chief Financial Officer
City of Waterloo
715 Mulberry Street
Waterloo, IA 50703
michelle.weidner@waterloo-ia.org
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