Putting more cops on the beat is a plan that's sure to win the support of both elected officials and everyday citizens.
However, it's a plan that usually comes with a hefty price tag. In Fort Dodge, that cost is $140,419.80 for three additional police officers.
City Council members are now pondering how to come up with at least some of that money as they continue work on the proposed budget for 2009-2010.
Councilmen Matt Bemrich and Don Wilson are pressing for three more officers, which would boost the city's force to 40 members.
''I still say that if this is our No. 1 priority, this should be done,'' Bemrich said during Monday's council meeting. ''We've got to try extremely hard to do it.''
He said surveys have shown that beefing up the Police Department is a top objective of both council members and the general public.
By the end of the evening, the proposed $2,581,626 police budget still contained money for just the current 37 officers, however.
Council members Cindy Litwiller and Dan Payne said they wanted to hear the rest of the budget presentations before they made any changes.
Payne added that he doesn't want the council to downsize other departments so that one can be expanded.
That's what would happen if the council votes to add three more police officers, according to City Manager David Fierke. He said the budgets of other departments that are paid for through the city's general fund would have to be cut to free up money to pay for the additional police officers. Those budget cuts would essentially translate into personnel reductions, he said.
City officials had hoped to get a federal grant last year to pay for hiring three more officers. They were surprised when federal officials told them Fort Dodge isn't eligible for that kind of grant.
The current Police Department budget of about $2.7 million was written to include the grant money. The fact that a grant isn't coming is the major reason the proposed budget is about $118,000 less than the current one.
Acting Police Chief Doug Utley said the proposed budget's personnel costs are down because Fort Dodge has a ''younger department'' with fewer members near the top of the pay scale. He said 15 officers - 40 percent of the total - have less than six years of experience.
Mayor Terry Lutz urged the council to let Fierke come up with some recommendations on funding additional police officer positions.
''We've got two council members who feel very strongly about getting to that number of three extra and there could be some pain getting there,'' he said.
Blanden Memorial
Art Museum
The city-owned art museum will experience some pain in the next fiscal year regardless of what decision is made on paying for more police officers. That pain will come about because a vacant registrar/curator position will not be filled.
Museum Director Margaret Skove said the institution's Board of Trustees will consider enacting an admission fee when it meets Jan. 13. She didn't provide any details on potential fees. The museum has been free to visitors since it opened in 1932.
Skove reported that 17,422 people visited the museum in 2007-2008.
Library
''The budget really didn't move a whole lot,'' library Director Larry Koeninger told the council.
He said the full-time maintenance worker who retired last year has been replaced with two part-time employees.
He reported that 126,041 people visited the library last year. Those visitors had access to 93,657 books, DVDs and other items in the library's collection.
Fire Department
Fire Chief John Webster presented a budget plan that includes money for wage increases, but no other new expenditures.
The budget keeps the department's staff at the current 31 members.
Webster said the department expects $86,290 in revenue. Most of that will come from the Region 5 Hazardous Materials Response Commission, which reimburses the city for all the costs of a team that responds to chemical emergencies in nine counties.
Fort Dodge
Regional Airport
City taxpayers aren't the only source of money for the airport. It also gets income from fees charged to Northwest Airlink, renting spaces in the hangars and renting farmland that's on airport property.
Thanks to increased revenue, the airport won't need as much tax money in 2009-2010, according to Rhonda Chambers, the director of aviation. She said the tax asking for the next fiscal year will be $2,223 less.
''I can't remember the last time we asked for less money,'' she said.
Contact Bill Shea at (515) 573-2141 or bshea@messengernews.net