Palenick presented his first public safety budget to Middletown City Council on Tuesday, and it will see a 3% reduction, or about $714,723, in 2021 The 2021 proposed public safety budget was listed at $23.12 million.
Of that amount, the Division of Police will see a 2021 budget of $13.25 million, which will be a 1.7% decrease from the $13.48 million budgeted for 2020.
The Division of Fire will see a 2021 budget of $9.87 million, which will be down 4.7% from the 2020 budget of $10.35 million.
Palenick said 26 payroll periods in 2021, down from 27 payrolls in 2020, will add savings. Retirements will allow the city to hire employees at entry-level salaries.
In his presentation, Palenick said the city plans to add two new Community Oriented Police officers that will be partially funded by a previously approved COPS grant. A third police officer position is planned when Maj. Scott Reeve, a deputy chief, retires in 2021.
In addition, Palenick said the city plans to eliminate one deputy chief’s position as part of a reorganization of the Division of Police.
Police officials said their major initiatives include reorganizing the police administration, seeking to reduce use-of-force situations and citizen complaints against officers and exploring identification as a High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area for increase state and federal funding for narcotics operations.
Officials said the fire department plans to focus on stabilizing staff, reducing opioid overdoses by 10% in cooperation with other organizations, adopting fees for some services, implementing a radio replacement program and developing a facility plan that includes four new fire stations.
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