As the Village of Brockport moves into the final weeks of its annual budget process, one area of concern is the cost of operating the village police force. It’s not the first time Brockport has struggled with the issue. In the early 1990s, several officers were laid off to reign in costs when the village was faced with double-digit tax rate increases. Although no such crises looms at this time, the Brockport village board is taking a hard look at how to control expenses in a department that has grown back to its pre-lay-off strength.

At the heart of the issue is overtime pay. Last year (fiscal year 1999/2000), Brockport had budgeted $75,000 for overtime. It ended up paying out more than $176,000; 135 percent more than budgeted. Part of the problem was that the village was not able to anticipate that four of its officers would be disabled for periods of time, some with job related injuries, other with medical problems.

But part of the problem is "built into the system," according to Village Attorney Roy Heise. The union contract grants first crack at overtime to the most senior officers, who are also the highest paid members of the department. "When there’s a vacancy on a shift," Heise said, "it first has to be offered to a full-time officer, who will receive over time for the shift, instead of to one of the part-time officers." Extra shifts seldom make it down the chain of 10 full-time officers to the four part-time officers.

For the year 1999/2000, a total of $843,629 – including base pay, holiday pay, longevity and overtime - was paid to the 15 police officers (including Chief Gary Zimmer). The village had only budgeted $702,547.

This year’s budget (the fiscal year began last June) slated $50,000 for overtime, $25,000 less than the year before. It was a sign that trustees were attempting to control the department’s labor costs. But as of February 15, the village had paid out $87,902 in overtime, exceeding the budgeted amount by 76 percent, with four months left to go.

Another factor, according to Heise, is the minimum manning provisions in the union contract. "It was put in years ago when there were a large number of bars that drew large crowds, but things have changed." Brockport’s biggest bars have all been closed down, most for repeated violations of Alcohol Beverage Control laws. Another change is that SUNY Brockport police officers can now leave the campus to assist village police officers with disturbances in the community.

No one at the village hall has suggested that Brockport should disband its police department. Instead, the focus is on how it can be changed to adapt to the changes in the community. In fact, at this time, the department is in the midst of an accreditation process. In the past, Heise said, Brockport’s police department was not eligible for state accreditation because its facilities in the basement of the Sweden Municipal Building did not meet legal requirements for prisoner holding cells. The move to 1 Clinton Street nearly three years ago changed that.

Currently, the Village of Brockport is in a dispute with its police union, the Stetson Club. The union has filed a grievance against the village claiming the newly adopted Employee Handbook violates, in some areas, the union contract. That case will be heard in court next month.

According to Trustee Mort Wexler, the union has offered to re-open contract negotiations to discuss the handbook even though the contract doesn’t expire for three years. Village board members said they would be more than happy to open up the entire contract to negotiations. Re-opening the contract would give the village the opportunity to address the overtime and minimum manning policies.

At the March 19 village board meeting, Wexler promised to have figures prepared in time for the upcoming budget public hearing on April 4 to show residents what the impact of police overtime is on the budget and the tax rate.

According to Treasurer Scott Rightmyer, the police budget accounts for a little over a third of the total village budget. A little less than a third of the total village budget is used to operate the department of public works. The final third, roughly, goes to everything else: library service, fire protection, joint recreation, village offices and staff, engineering and legal fees, the various support boards, liability and workers’ compensation insurance, etc.

The difference between the cost of running the police department and of running the department of public works, is that the vast majority of the police budget is salaries and benefits, Rightmyer said. At the DPW, equipment and materials make up a large share of the budget.

"The ultimate question," Heise said, "is what level of service does the community need? Then you have to ask what level of service can you render at what cost to the taxpayer?"