Sebastopol unveils its 2024/25 budget, Part 2

Looking at the 2024/25 budgets for police, fire and public works

This is Part 2 of a two-part article. Find Part 1 here.

In Part 1 of this article, we gave a general overview of the budget and looked at significant budgetary changes to the city’s management and administrative offices, as well as Ives Pool, the Senior Center and the Community Center. Part 2 will look at the budgets for fire, police, public works, building and engineering.

Fire Department Budget

• $156,223 reduction in salary by not filling the fire chief position. APPROVED 5 TO 0.

• $136,799 in contract expenses for fire chief contract with Gold Ridge Fire Protection District. APPROVED 5 TO 0.

• $95,000 increase to fund costs related to fire consolidation with Gold Ridge. This is includes $50,000 for attorney fees, $15,000 for public education, and $30,000 for LAFCO, the agency that needs to approve the consolidation. APPROVED 5 TO 0.

• $40,000 increase in firefighter expenses to expand coverage. APPROVED 5 TO 0, but changed to a placeholder, which means the exact details of this program have yet to be decided.

• Shift $40,000 from retention voucher program for firefighters to expand coverage. APPROVED 5 TO 0, but changed to a placeholder.

• $20,000 increase in equipment to replace essential radios. APPROVED 5 TO 0.

• The budget includes $11,000 to continue the Map Your Neighborhood program. APPROVED 4 TO 1 (Vice Mayor Zollman dissenting.)

• Placeholder of $100,000, due to the need to be flexible with consolidation. APPROVED 5 TO 0. The council also discussed that the city would be getting $300,000 from the Measure H fire tax, which could be used to hire two firefighters.

Police Budget

• $122,830 reduction in expenses for improvements in Police Department building and equipment, which will be funded by the Police Endowment. APPROVED 5 TO 0.

• $20,000 increase to fund assessment and initial improvements of City’s Emergency Operation Center and emergency responsibility. APPROVED 5 TO 0.

• $4,465 increase with the shift of remaining FY23-24 warming center funds to Police Department from Fire Department. APPROVED 5 TO 0. confusing

• $10,000 add-on for a warming/cooling center. APPROVED 4 TO 1, McLewis dissenting.

• $11,500 increase due to the shift of traffic engineering to Police Department. APPROVED 5 TO 0.

• $8,000 increase to a total of $16,000 to increase capacity for towing recreational vehicles. APPROVED 5 TO 0.

• Two police positions, carried over from last year’s budget. APPROVED 4 TO 1. There was some disagreement on the budget committee about whether to fund the two unfilled police positions: $121,000 for an officer position and $106,000 for a dispatcher. Vice Mayor Zollman wanted to use this money (and more) for a SAFE team (Specialized Assistance for Everyone), which responds to issues relating to mental health, addiction, and homelessness. This program is currently used in Petaluma.

Councilmember Sandra Maurer, a Budget Committee member, opposed funding the SAFE program because she felt she didn’t know enough about it and it had a high price tag: $270,000 a year for 40-hours-a-week coverage, plus start-up costs and $175,000 for a van. She also mentioned that the county was using Measure O to fund this service in Rohnert Park and Cotati.

“I think it would be great if we could have the county help us out here,” she said.

Chief Ron Nelson made it clear that he was not opposed to SAFE. Noting that his officers spend a significant amount of time dealing with the fallout from homelessness, he said, “I would love to have SAFE as a tool. It would allow us to focus on more traditional policing.” But he also noted that SAFE wasn’t meant to replace the police, and that there were a certain minimum number of positions required to provide 24/7 coverage. The council agreed.

Mayor Rich said that she and Vice Mayor Zollman would partner to bring the idea of an Ad Hoc committee on SAFE back to the council at a later date.

Building Budget

The building budget was APPROVED 5 to 0. The building department is seeing a substantial increase in one-time revenues, due to fees associated with the various housing/hotel projects being built or contemplated in Sebastopol. This will result in an increased expense for inspections and related work.

Engineering Budget

$163,000 savings from consolidation with Public Works. APPROVED 5 TO 0. One of the biggest savings of the year was achieved through the consolidation of two departments—Engineering and Public Works—and the reduction of engineering support from engineering contractor, GHD.

$11,500 reduction and shift of the traffic engineering contract to Police Department. APPROVED 5 TO 0.

Additional $5,000 to support solid waste hauler procurement. APPROVED 5 TO 0.

Public Works Budget

$218,213 reduction due primarily to retirement of the Public Works Superintendent and consolidation of Public Works and Engineering Departments. APPROVED 5 TO 0.

$72,000 reduction due to a shift of a laborer to focus on water and sewer systems. APPROVED 5 TO 0.

$66,000 in reimbursement from grants and City’s Building reserve fund for projects. APPROVED 5 TO 0.

$64,000 reduction in maintenance-related contracts. APPROVED 5 TO 0.

$26,000 reduction in maintenance services and supplies. APPROVED 5 TO 0.

$52,000 increase in contract services with the shift of West County Community Services contract for Park Village to Public Works. APPROVED 5 TO 0.

$20,000 addition for Libby Park fencing materials. APPROVED 5 TO 0.

$20,000 addition for replacing landscaping at the Police Department. DENIED 5 to 0. This was a proposal to replace the lawn with drought-tolerant landscaping.

$5,000 addition for more reflective sign poles to improve pedestrian crosswalk. APPROVED 5 TO 0.

Watch the July 16 city council meeting on the budget here.