The Auburn City Council delayed further discussion and a vote on the city's biennial budget for the 2017 and 2018 fiscal years. The proposed budget would create several new full-time public safety positions designated specifically for the campus of Auburn University.
Ward 3 City Councilwoman Beth Witten denied unanimous consent required for the budget approval at Tuesday’s council meeting, saying she wanted more time to review the information. The budget will reappear on the next meeting’s agenda Sept. 20, and the 2017 fiscal year will begin Oct. 1.
Over the two-year period, the budget proposes 31 new full-time jobs, 24 of which would be in the Auburn Police Division. Of those 24, 16 would be designated for the University campus.
The new campus positions would include nine officers, two detectives, three lieutenants, a sergeant and an administrative secretary. They are a part of the city’s planned on-campus precinct to be staffed by 39 sworn officers.
The precinct would be located on Magnolia Avenue where the University’s public safety department is housed, and officers assigned to the University would report there rather than at the city police headquarters on Ross Street, which is the current procedure.
Over the last 12 years in which the city has presided over University public safety, there have been “very minimal” additions to campus public safety personnel, said City Manager Charles Duggan.
“In talking with the University, there was some extra patrol we’d like to do to … continue to keep campus safe, so the University was very receptive to us adding officers to each shift to make sure as much of campus is covered as possible,” Duggan said.
Witten added that the new University-designated officers would allow officers currently juggling city and University calls to focus on one area, making the workflow more efficient.
“We still will share resources, but this will have a more dedicated presence on campus and provide for … more security for campus itself and the students on campus and also more security for our residents within the city, just to make it a little … more dedicated service for campus and the city,” Witten said.
Education and construction take priority alongside public safety
The $82.25 million general fund budget for 2017 would see about a 6-percent decrease from the $87.63 million budget for fiscal year 2016. But the 2018 budget is set to surpass 2017 by about $1.5 million.
Public safety; education funding for Auburn City Schools; and general government, planning and staff support programs would see an increase in expenditures in the next fiscal year, while parks, leisure and culture; public works and maintenance; and economic development programs would see cuts.
The increase in expenditures reflects the city’s monetary priorities for the past couple of years.
Auburn's public safety program, which includes the judicial, public safety and environmental and animal control departments, takes the city’s first priority, as it would make up 29.9 percent of the 2017 general fund budget. In 2018, it would make up 31.4 percent of it.
The public safety department would take most of the program’s funds, with nearly half of its expenditures dedicated to increasing all police personnel.
Despite cuts within the public works and maintenance program, it still takes up 17.5 percent of the 2017 budget expenditures, second only to public safety. In 2016, it took up 25.9 percent.
Both the public works department and environment services, which are within the program area, will see increases in expenditures, with the $1.83 million for construction being the largest fund allocation in the department for 2017.
The allocation, a 14-percent increase from 2016, would go toward the projects on the city’s Capital Improvement Plan, such as new sidewalks, downtown improvements and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance.
Education, the budget’s third monetary priority for both the 2017, will see a 6 percent increase in funding from 2016, making it the third largest chunk — 15.2 percent — of the general fund.
In the 2018 general fund, budget expenditures in education are planned to surpass those in public works and maintenance, making it the most dominating program area after public safety.
“City budgets are largely a mirror of the values of the community,” Duggan said. “So what you see reflected is a respect for public education and the need for high quality public education, investment in the infrastructure so that we can improve areas that need improvement but also prepare for future growth in the city, quality public safety so it remains a safe community and then quality of life projects, such as parks and recreation or library, green space initiatives — all those things.”
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