Harrisburg City Council held a budget hearing on Tuesday.
With little remaining time to approve a new 2022 budget, Harrisburg City Council met on Tuesday to question the proposed spending plan, specifically the category of public safety.
During the first of three budget hearings, the city administration explained amendments to their proposed spending plan, including additional funding to the police bureau.
Business Administrator Dan Hartman introduced the proposed plan last week, boasting a balanced $69.9 million general fund budget, $10 million less than 2021’s budget. At Tuesday’s meeting, he bumped that number up to $71.2 million.
That change primarily accounts for the decision to fund several new, or previously vacant and unfunded, positions within the police and fire bureaus.
The new proposal includes six new funded firefighter trainee positions and one new deputy chief of training. In the police bureau, there would be eight additional budgeted police trainee positions, which Hartman said they had originally pulled funding from because they didn’t believe they would be filled. The amended proposed budget also added a fleet manager role and extra funds for officer training.
While the police bureau has struggled with recruitment and retention, Commissioner Thomas Carter, who was present at the meeting, explained a plan to bolster those efforts.
The bureau, for instance, plans a significant boost to its advertising budget, which the city believes will help the bureau fill those extra budgeted positions.
“I think we’ve stepped up our recruiting game significantly,” said Deputy Chief of Police Dennis Sorensen.
However, council members had questions about how much the advertising would help.
“Throwing money at the situation clearly isn’t going to get more people involved, and advertising isn’t going to get more people involved in law enforcement,” council member Westburn Majors said. “What does this advertising look like? Are we talking to individuals about the process of becoming a police officer?”
The budget also includes several new positions that would possibly be funded using federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars.
Currently, Harrisburg has six community service aides (CSAs) in the police bureau who work with officers to assist with quality-of-life issues and interact with residents. The budget plan proposes funding six more CSA positions.
Council President Danielle Bowers pushed for information on the success of the CSA program.
“Has the program been evaluated?” she asked. “We need something in writing stating that this program is, in fact, successful. Something needs to be evaluated, for me, before hiring six new people.”
Hartman explained that they are not making any concrete decisions on funding the positions or allotting ARPA dollars, but rather, presenting a “buffet table” of options to council. In the end, council will be the one to vote on how ARPA money is spent.
Overall, the proposed police budget is $19.5 million. The budget last year was $21.5 million, though, due to open positions and other issues, all that money was not spent. The fire bureau’s budget would sit at $10.3 million, not a significant change from last year.
The next two budget hearings will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 9, and Thursday, Feb. 10, each at 5:30 p.m. On Thursday at 5:15 p.m., council will hold a special legislative session to vote on amending the proposed budget.
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