The Police Union won their main 2 points in binding arbitration - retaining the high cost high benefit Cadillac health care plan and only a 1 year contract. The health care aspects bust the budget and the 1 year term means we have to start negotiating immediately for 2011 in which the Union will be asking for even more from our overburdened taxpayers.
To be clear the Council will have to address these issues and cut the Police budget elsewhere including the possibility of eliminating a police officer position to ensure we can afford these escalating cost. All of our other City employees - union and non-union - have all accepted reality and are paying a bit more for their health care coverage and two year freeze on pay increases. Only the Police Union has decided not to accept the new reality and under stand that our Citizens and Taxpayers can no longer afford escalating government cost.
I am greatly sadden that the Police Union may cause us to eliminate officers. If this trend continues then a fully functioning independent police department may not be feasible. Their position was to raise taxes to cover their demands - with record underemployment, declining property values and decreasing wages and benefits for those that do have jobs - this was completely unacceptable. The only tax the City can raise is property taxes which are terribly regressive and hurt our seniors, who for 2 years have no cost of living increase, and the poor the most.
Lets be clear the budget balancing we will have to do long term is the direct result of an unsustainable position for ever increasing wages and benefits.
About Me
- George
- I have served the City of Isanti as Mayor since 2007. We have accomplished great things together and I look forward to building on our success. United, we move forward to a better future. You may contact me at 763-442-8749 or e-mail me at george@georgewimmer.com.
15 comments:
So lets get this clear we have a chief and a office person in the office during the day.Plus one cop on the street one in the school and one zoning person.Plus we are are paying for county police service?
Cutting Police Officers is not the answer. Never has been. Never should be. What is the percentage of taxes that would increase? Id gladly accept a tax increase to keep our officers on the streets and keeping our schools safe. How can you place a dollar amount on the safety of our families and children?
The question is how much is to much to pay for an individual police officer. We range in salaries from $97,336.05 to $70,738.07 per year in Officer pay and benefits. This cost structure is not possible to maintain long term.
As a City we have to look at all issues for our Citizens. Safe roads and water are also important to our children's safety.
I am glad to hear you are able and willing to pay more in taxes but the majority of our Citizens are not. I hope you come to a meeting to state for the record that you are willing to pay more in taxes.
We are also faced with rapidly declining revenue from the State that has already caused us to eliminate positions within the city. This process continues. All other City employees have accepted the new reality and unfortunately we have only so much money to spend. We can not have a two tier system where wages and benefits are higher for the police department but all other employees are treated worse.
The tax rate increase would depend on how much more revenue is cut and how much more property values decrease.
My question to you is how much is to much for a tax rate. Even though we have cut taxes in Isanti our City is still in the highest quarter percentile for property taxes in the state. Our City will die if we over tax our residents and businesses.
The facts are the facts and we only have so much money to spend on City services. I had hoped the new reality would be accepted but it was not.... we now must make the tough decisions to keep moving Isanti forward.
Drop the cops! There is too much overlap in jurisdiction anyway. I can't believe the police will not work with the city in these hard economic times. Mora has already proven that county protection can work. Shame on them for being so selfish
I can see the drop the cops and go with the county angle. But have you seen how poorly the county spends money?
cut the lowest in seniority and go from there since they do not want to work with the city, and do a wage freeze like you did with everyone else, get the chief out on the streets driving a car patroling the city and cut the office help to 24-32 hrs a week, maybe then they will be willing to work with you
Isnt the "lowest in seniority" our Schools Liason Officer? Do we really want to cut that?
and why do we all make such quick judgements or assumptions regarding what any one officer wanted or didnt want. Unions go with a majority vote and have internal politics much like any other organization.
I cant see how cutting Police could ever be an answer. The contacts I have had with our local Police Department Officers is unquestionably FANTASTIC in comparison to contacts that I and my friends/family have had with the County Sheriffs Deputies.
So, you want the investments that we spent on our professional police department and let it go to waste? What happens if we went to the county and 3-5 years down the road, they raise the rates up? Then what? It would be VERY expensive to start up another police department. We need to stop whining and find better cost effective solutions. Having our own police department is the way to go, plus we have local control. You just can't base everything on Mora. This is Isanti, our city!!!!
The School Liaison is a position and can be filled by another officer if it came to that. Union rules state the employee with the lowest seniority is the first to be let go... I wish that were not the case but the City does not control that.....
I am not basing everything on Mora there have been over 60 police department mergers or liquidations. I hope it will never come to that but we only have so many resources and can only afford so much.
We were very clear that the City can not afford $20,000 plus a year health care cost for employees into the future.
Every single employee except for the police union employees are under the new health care insurance plan and rate structure. Why it is ok for everyone else and not them is beyond me but that is the situation we find ourselves in.
We needed everyone to pitch in so everyone could keep their jobs... that did not happen so unfortunately someone could be let go.... that is not whining those are the facts... The City can not even raise taxes for 2011 if the Council wanted too... The next chance to hike taxes to pay for the Police Union Cadillac health care plan would be 2012.....
I have met quite a few of the members of the Isanti police department,and not in an enforcement way. They seem snobish in their attitude, maybe it goes with the job, maybe it doesn't. They need to realize that the times are hard and they are not the only show in town. What does everyone feel about law enforcement protection that lives outside of the city limits? I live there,everything is fine with the county. Don't let small town politics get in the way with fiscal responsibility.
Maybe the city should buy some more Dodge Chargers for the young bucks in the police department. STOP waisting money on stupid things! These cops should feel lucky they have a job. I think they are in a twisted way blackmailing the city into keeping their jobs. Grow up!!!!!
The Chargers were presented to council by the Police Department as an operational cost saver..... not sure we have seen that
Everything is fine with the county? The county has had increasing crime rates for years, burglaries and thefts are increasing on a seemingly daily basis... They need more deputies to cover more crime ridden areas.. why should Isanti pay for that?
Based on the numbers provided by the city of isanti, our city has had a decrease in crime rates over this same period of time!
GOOD JOB OFFICERS!!
And money well spent from our own city to cover our own problems.
The benefit of a local PD in my humble opinion.
I am proud of those men and women.
I consistently see other communities and government agencies stating over and over again that Public Safety cuts are a last resort.
Is this our last resort?
I hope not..
I appreciate all the hard work that our police dept. does. I like seeing them on our streets. It gives me a good feeling to know they are close by and not on the other side of the county for another emergency. I hope something can be worked out or a middle ground can be met somewhere.
As we are seeing both nationally and globally the problems can be summed up in one word. UNIONS!
Just wait till all of the union workers find out that they were lied to and that they will not receive the outrageous pensions that they were promised.
We will probably be set ablaze as we are currently witnessing in Europe.
Good people that were lied to with promises that simply cannot be kept.
God help us all!
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