By MAUREEN DOHERTY
NORTH READING — The annual departmental budget presentations for FY23 before a joint meeting of the Select Board and Finance Committee kicked off last Saturday morning at Town Hall.
It marked the first time that the department heads and elected, appointed and town officials had been in-person for this purpose in two years as last year’s summit was entirely virtual due to COVID. This year’s summit was a hybrid meeting, with some FinCom members and members of the public tuning in virtually, but all five Select Board members and four of the FinCom members attended the in-person session.
Police Chief Michael Murphy was the first to present his department budget. He boiled down the 100-page report into a 15-page summary with a bottom line request of $4,245,128, which is an increase of just $12,711 over his department’s FY22 appropriation (or 3/10ths of one percent). He concluded that the budget as presented will “provide the best means for the Police Department to deliver the most efficient and effective police services to the town.” The chief sought their “support, leadership and true partnership in our efforts as we work together to overcome the town’s challenges.”
Overall, those present commended him on the budget and his presentation of it in outlining the needs of the department.
Of that $4,245,128 figure, payroll has decreased by $2,978 (.1%) to $3,854,189; expenditures increased by 4.75% ($12,459) and small capital requests have decreased by 2.3%, from $118,774 in FY22 to $116,059 proposed for FY23.
Murphy, who serves as the town’s Director of Public Safety in addition to his duties as Police Chief, also announced his intention to retire in about 18 months which will make it necessary to plan for this department head transition in the coming fiscal year.
He provided an overview of the many FY23 grants the department has sought or been awarded totaling nearly $378,000. They are:
• 911 Training grant ($78,386) to cover all annual mandatory 911 training for both police and fire;
• 911 Incentive grant ($48,134) to fund IT support which will be used to purchase eight modems and six mobile data terminals for patrol units;
• EMD Grant ($4,319) to cover the cost associated with quality assurance for the Fire Dept.;
• Body Camera Grant ($101,994) covers the cost to buy 35 body cameras and onsite storage for one year;
• U.S. DOJ Bullet Proof Vest Partnership ($20,000) to provide armor vests for all officers based upon Department needs. Vest expire every five years so must be replaced on an ongoing basis;
• Drug-Free Communities Grant ($125,000) which covers 100% of the DFC Director’s salary and benefits and funds strategies to track use and prevent youth use of alcohol, tobacco, vape products, marijuana and prescription drugs. It also supplements community presentations in partnership with other agencies or departments.
The $4.2M budget reflects a $34,290 decrease in overtime expenses which Murphy attributed to the recent retirements of personnel who had upwards of 30 years of tenure and their replacement with younger officers, as well as contractual reforms to the overtime system which apply to the newer hires. As an illustration of the savings, the FY23 overtime budget of $642,423 is $59,725 less than the overtime budget of 10 years ago (FY13: $702,148).
The FY23 budget also includes an estimated increase of $37,195 in police personnel costs attributed to contractual increases.
Supply chain issues have also affected the department’s purchase of certain items, in particular, training ammunition. The cost has gone up $14,330 in FY23 over the current fiscal year for the same amount of supplies.
Murphy also included a request for one or two new fleet vehicles of 2022 or newer Ford Interceptor Hybrids with a base price of $37,563 plus emergency equipment upfitting of $14,346; lettering cost of $1,120 and $5,000 for each two-way radio for a total estimated cost of just over $58,000 each. This cost includes the possible retrofitting of some equipment from the fleet replacements.
Stated goals in FY23, for the NRPD will be the department head transition as well as an analysis of department personnel distribution, recruitment and training (including adding female officers to the department), seeking re-accreditation, providing specialized training to officers, including de-escalation; and continuing ongoing efforts to “minimize social and overall impacts of illicit drug use.”
Among the DFC Director’s objectives in FY23 will be to attend roll calls to inform officers about substance use trends; completing 3 TIPS compliance checks during the year at each vendor site and reducing the past 30-day vape use for grades 6-12 to 10%.
The department’s on-staff mental health/substance abuse clinician also summarized several goals in the coming year to provide outreach to all segments of the community, including implementing at least one training for first responders on personal mental health care; expanding community/virtual self-care project to include other town departments and increasing and strengthening her relationship with town citizens who use the support of veteran and youth services. She’ll also “provide outreach efforts to surrounding courthouses with information on how North Reading patients can access the Mental Health/Substance Abuse Clinician” and distribute information on resources available to the community “as a result of COVID-19 needs.”
Next week: Fire Department and DPW FY23 budget proposals