The upcoming vote on proposed utility franchise fees in Fort Dodge is about much more than putting eight more police officers on the beat, according to speakers at a Tuesday evening meeting on the issue.

A handful of speakers described the franchise fees as an investment in the future prosperity of the community.

Charles Clayton, executive director of Athletics for Education and Success, issued a challenge to those who say they want a safer community or that they “back the blue.”

“Put your money where your mouth is,” he said.

About 20 residents attended the meeting in the Municipal Building.

The issue before the voters on Tuesday is whether the city should impose a 5 percent franchise fee on electric and natural gas bills of MidAmerican Energy customers.

The fees would add $6.85 a month to the monthly bills of average households, according to figures provided by the city. Some households would pay less than that; others would pay more.

All of the money generated by those fees, an estimated $1.8 million, would be dedicated to the Police Department for the purpose of hiring eight more officers.

The fees must be approved by a simple majority of those voting in order to go into effect.

If the fees are approved, they will be implemented in January.

At the same time they would be implemented the 1 percent local option sales tax now levied on electric and gas bills would be dropped.

The Fort Dodge Police Department now has 40 officers who respond to about 31,000 calls for help a year.

“Our officers do an amazing job,” Police Chief Dennis Quinn said Tuesday. “We want to keep doing a better job.”

Having more officers would enable the police to be “pro-active in disrupting the criminal element,” City Manager David Fierke said.

“We don’t really have the opportunity to be pro-active that we should have,” he said.

Astra Ferris, chief executive officer of the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance, said there is a link between safety, workforce and private investment.

She said private investment occurs in places where there are available workers.The workers, she said, live in places where they feel safe.

Ferris noted that the franchise fees will cost a typical household $6.85 a month.

“I feel that our Police Department is important enough to invest that in,” she said.

Former Councilman Terry Moehnke encouraged everyone at the meeting to vote in favor of the franchise fee proposal.

“All city services come at a cost,” he said.

Here are some of the questions asked and answered at the meeting.

Is the money committed to the Police Department?

Fierke said that it would be.The City Council unanimously approved a measure on Aug. 12 that commits all of the revenue from the fees to the Police Department.

What is the point of hiring eight more officers if the Webster County Jail is full and won’t take more people?

A referendum on building a new Webster County Jail failed in November. Fierke said the city is “trying to get the police part right,” and added that the jail is a county government function.

He said he doesn’t believe the community can wait for the jail situation to improve before hiring more officers.

How long would the franchise fee be in place?

It would be in place for the length of MidAmerican Energy’s franchise, which runs for another 25 years, according to Fierke.

Would more officers or more training for the current officers be more beneficial?

Quinn said having more officers will create the opportunity for all officers to get more training. He said the opportunity to send officers to training is constrained by the need to keep all of the shifts covered. With more officers available, it would be easier to send officers to training because there would be people available to cover all the shifts.