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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-10-14 09-315 ORDERCOUNCIL ACTION Item No.� J 4 Date: 10-14-2009 (TITLE.) ORDER, Accepting a Grant Award from the United States Department of Justice,.., Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), to Hire Four (4) Police Officers under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Responsible Department: Police Commentary: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 includes funding for the COPS Hiring Recovery Program to address the sworn personnel needs of state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies. Under this program, unlike earlier versions, the federal government will pay the full cost of all salaries and benefits for an initial three year period. The City would be responsible for certain initial costs (recruitment, training, uniforms, etc.) approximating $3,500 to $4,500 per officer. The City would then be required to assume all program costs in year four, estimated at about $320,000. The Department would also be required to maintain staffing at the pre -application level for the entire 4 year term. After an initial presentation to the Government Operations Committee in March, a full Council Workshop was held in early April to review and discuss this request. The Council subsequently authorized Chief Gastia to apply for funding for six positions with the understanding that acceptance of any award would be contingent upon further Council review and approval. In late July, the Department was notified that funding was awarded for four of the six positions. The City has ninety days to accept the award. The award notification was recently discussed with the Government Operations Committee, which voted unanimously to recommend approval. This Order will authorize the acceptance of the award to hire four new police officers. A Resolve to appropriate the grant funds will be prepared if the award is accepted. Manager's Comments: Associated Information: Order, Background memorandum, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Budget Approval: Legal Approval: Introduced for x Passage First Reading Referral Department Head -Page_ of City Manager ce Director City Solicitor Assigned to Councilor CITY OF BANGOR 09-315 AS AMENDED (TITLE.) ORDER, Accepting a Grant Award from the United States Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), to Hire Four (4) Police Officers under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 WHEREAS, the Police Department has been notified of an award of COPS funding in the amount of approximately $705,000 under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009; and WHEREAS, the award will support the hiring of four additional sworn officers; and WHEREAS, the Department has identified a need for additional officers due to increased calls for service, growth in various areas of the City, a growing need for enforcement of criminal and traffic laws, an enhanced ability to address quality of life issues, and to prepare for future anticipated retirements, among other needs; and WHEREAS, the Chief of Police has recommended that the City accept the funds for the four (4) positions in order to respond to these needs, and the City Council has determined that accepting this award is necessary to address these issues and for the overall betterment of public safety for Bangor citizens; and WHEREAS, during the initial three year grant period, the full cost of salaries and benefits for these officers will be paid by the grant with no local match requirement; and WHEREAS, during the grant period and for one year thereafter, the conditions of the grant will require the City to maintain the level of sworn officer staffing achieved following the addition of any positions funded by the grant; and WHEREAS, it is projected that maintaining this staffing level in year four will require the addition of approximately $320,000 to the City budget for Fiscal Year 2013; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BANGOR THAT the award of for four (4) sworn officer positions under the CODS Grant Program is hereby approved and the Chief of Police Is authorized to take such appropriate action as may be necessary to accept the award; and BE IT FURTHER ORDERED THAT, as required under the terms of the grant, the City recognizes that it has an obligation to maintain the new positions for a minimum of one year following the expiration of the three-year grant funding term; and 11E IT FURTHER ORDERED THAT Lhere is herhereW establishedwithin the General Fund COPS grant stabilization reserve designed to allow for gradually phasing in the budgetary •.� •MOTT.. • �� •�� rr r :� �+ 1 1 • i r - MW r • Al r , r Mi'r • - 1 r1 • -1 r ' r • �_ r r • w 1 r'• r r � � � i�1 r r� ri• r 1 r r i r BE IT FURTHER ORDERED THAT, the City Finance Director is hereby directed to establish such accounts as may be necessary to properly receive, account for and disperse said funds. Assigned to Councilor Wheeler CITY OF BANGOR n, .y r• J. 0 October 14, 2009 (TITLE.) ORDER, Accepting a Grant Award from the United States Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), to Hire Four (4) Police Officers under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 WHEREAS, the Police Department has been notified of an award of COPS funding in the amount of approximately $705,000 under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009; and WHEREAS, the award will support the hiring of four additional sworn officers; and WHEREAS, the Department has identified a need for additional officers due to increased calls for service, growth in various areas of the City, a growing need for enforcement of criminal and traffic laws, an enhanced ability to address quality of life issues, and to prepare for future anticipated retirements, among other needs; and WHEREAS, the Chief of Police has recommended that the City accept the funds for the four (4) positions in order to respond to these needs, and the City Council has determined that accepting this award is necessary to address these issues and for the overall betterment of public safety for Bangor citizens; and WHEREAS, during the initial three year grant period, the full cost of salaries and benefits for these officers will be paid by the grant with no local match requirement; and WHEREAS, during the grant period and for one year thereafter, the conditions of the grant will require the City to maintain the level of sworn officer staffing achieved foilowing the addition of any positions funded by the grant; and WHEREAS, it is projected that maintaining this staffing level in year four will require the addition of approximately $320,000 to the City budget for Fiscal Year 2013; NOW, THEREFORE, RE IT ORDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BANGOR THAT the award of for four (4) sworn officer positions under the COPS Grant Program is hereby approved and the Chief of Police is authorized to take such appropriate action as may be necessary to accept the award; and BE IT FURTHER ORDERED THAT, as required under the terms of the grant, the City recognizes that it has an obligation to maintain the new positions for a minimum of one year following the expiration of the three-year grant funding term; and BE IT FURTHER ORDERED THAT, the City Finance Director is hereby directed to establish such accounts as may be necessary to properly receive, account for and disperse said funds. IN CITY COUNCIL October 14, 2009 Motion Made and Seconded for Passage Motion made and Seconded to Amend by Substitution Passed Motion Made and Seconded for Passage as Amended Passed # 09-315 ORDER (TITLE,) Accepting a Grant Award from the United States Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPSP, to hire Four (4) Police Officers under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Assigned to Councilor Bangor Police Department TO: Members of the Government Operations Committee FROM: Ronald Gastia, Chief of Police DATE: September 9, 2049 RE: COPS Grant Award i9 9 3115 240 Main Street Bangor. Maim 04401 207-947-7382 Fax 207-945-6824 In April of this year, with the City Council's approval, I applied for funding for six new positions under the COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP). In a letter dated July 28, 2009,1 was notified that we have received an award for four (4) officers in the amount of $704,880.00. The grant period runs from July 1. 2009 through June 30, 2012. In order to receive the grant, the award must be signed and returned to the COPS office within 90 days of notification of the award. As you may recall, the positions initially requested in the grant request were: One (1) School Resource Officer Two (2) Special Enforcement Team Officers One (1) Community. Relations Officer One (1) Computer Crimes Investigator One (1) Violence Crime Investigator Because only four positions were included in the award, it will be necessary to decide where any new positions will best be utilized. As 1 have previously stated, I recommend a proactive approach to the staffing needs. An additional four officers will assist the Department in filling necessary positions without reducing on -street staffing levels. The costs to the City over the first three years would be those associated with the hiring process, Academy training, and equipment purchases. I anticipate that this would amount to approximately $5000 per officer, plus typical unknown costs such as the payment of overtime. While the grant requires that the City maintain the acquired positions for at least one year following its expiration, this approach will allow us three years to plan for the budgetary requirements necessary to maintain the positions. Also, please recall that during the total four year period, the City is not allowed to lay-off Police officers or otherwise allow the staffing to drop below the staffing level at time of the grant application (79), plus any new positions acquired with the grant, unless the layoffs were part of an overall citywide reduction in force,'involving multiple positions in departments (So under this scenario, the City would be required to maintain a total of 83 positions[79 +4] for a four year, period.) If layoffs of police officers did occur, it is Z 09 315 possible that this action could trigger a compliance audit and the city would need to prove that the layoffs did not violate any terms of the agreement. Finally, I believe that an increase in our staffing level is inevitable, and I believe that an increase should occur as soon as possible. I believe that the benefit that this opportunity presents far exceeds any detriment. Hiring now for inevitable future staffing increases will be of significant benefit to the City. I look forward to discussing this grant opportunity with the Committee and answering your questions. 03 315 Q: Does the non -supplanting requirement apply to the CHRP grant program? A: Yes. The non -supplanting requirement is a legal requirement in the Public Safety and Community Policing Act, which is the COPS Office's authorizing statute. The non -supplanting requirement means COPS grant funds must be used to supplement (not replace) state, local or Bureau of Indian Affairs (BTA) funds that would have been dedicated toward law enforcement if federal funding had not been awarded. As it applies to your agency's CHRP grant, grantees must not reduce the level of state, local or BIA funding that would have been dedicated toward sworn officer positions as a result of receiving federal funding. Q: Can CHRP grant funding be used to pay for officer overtime and/or eliminate officer furloughs? A: No. CHRP funding may only be used to hire and rehire full-time law enforcement officers in order to create and preserve jobs and to increase law enforcement agencies' community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts. Q: My city hasn't reduced the police force yet, but we are currently going through our budget process and may be cutting officer positions before the COPS Hiring Recovery Program grants are awarded. Can we apply for COPS Hiring Recovery Program funding to restore those positions? A: Your agency cannot cut its sworn officer budget just because COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP) funds are now available for officer hiring. First, that would be risky to your agency, because the COPS Hiring Recovery Program is going to be very competitive and there is just no guarantee that your agency will receive CHRP funding. Second, that would create a potential supplanting violation that could be identified through an audit or monitoring, if it appears that the only reason your jurisdiction cut its police officer budget is because it anticipated receiving COPS Hiring Recovery Program funding (your agency would be using CHRP funds to replace local funds that it otherwise would have spent on those officer positions). Your agency must make its local budget decisions about sworn officers as if it had never heard of the CHRP grant program, and then if your agency is still planning to cut officer positions, it may apply for CHRP funds to rehire any officers who have been laid off, or to prevent lay-offs that are scheduled to occur in the future, or to hire new officers to fill vacancies that are no longer funded in your agency's budget. 09 315 In this case, where the timing of the budget decisions is happening all around the same time that your agency applies for CHRP funds, it is especially critical to document the reason for any budget cuts that eliminate sworn officer positions to show that the cuts are not being made because of the CHRP. It is particularly helpful if your agency can document that other city departments are facing similar personnel cuts (through lay-offs or attrition) in the same time frame and same amounts - if it is audited in the future and can show that the school system laid off 20 teachers at the same time the police department laid off 10 officers, that goes a long way to proving that the police department cuts were not related to the anticipated receipt of CHRP grant funds. Q: We understand that we must commit to retain any COPS Hiring Recovery Program funded positions after the grant ends, but what will happen if our city's financial situation has not improved by then - or is even worse - and we can't retain? A: As with past COPS programs that required retention, the COPS Office will work with grantees facing severe fiscal distress at the time that the grant period is ending to evaluate whether they might qualify for a retention exemption. If a grantee does prove that its financial situation is so distressed that it cannot afford to retain the positions, the COPS Office has the authority to exempt the grantee from the retention requirement and the grantee is then ineligible for new COPS grants that have retention requirements for one year. If the grantee's fiscal distress is not so severe that it qualifies for a retention exemption, and the grantee still does not retain, then the COPS Office may bar that agency from receiving any new COPS grants (even those that don't have a retention requirement) for three years. Q: What kind of documentation can prove that the lay-off(s) are not related to the receipt of CHRP funds? A: Any records showing that the lay-off(s) occurred as a result of state, local or tribal budget cuts. To show that the lay-offs did not occur as a direct result of the availability of CHRP funds, it is especially helpful to demonstrate that budget cuts occurred in the entire (or at least additional) municipal or tribal governmental departments, notjust the law enforcement department. Or if budget cuts just occurred in the law enforcement agency's budget that they were across all categories not just for sworn officer positions. Documents might include: 1. council meeting minutes discussing the budget cuts and lay-offs; 2. budget orders directing municipal departments to reduce their operating budgets; 3. personnel directives given to the officers who are scheduled for lay-off(s); 4. any other local documents explaining why the lay-offs occurred; and/or 5. notices provided to the individual officers regarding the date(s) of the lay- offs. Q: If our agency's economic conditions change after receiving a CHRP grant and we want to change the hiring categories from what we identified in our CHRP application, what should our agency do? A: If your agency receives a CHRP grant and after receiving the grant, your agency needs to change the hiring category(s) it received funding under, your agency must request a post -award grant modification and must receive prior approval before spending CHRP funding. To obtain information on modifying a CHRP grant award please contact the COPS Response Center at 1-800-421-6770. Q: Is our agency required to retain the CHRP-funded positions following the conclusion of the 36 months of grant funding? A: Yes. At the conclusion of federal funding, CHRP grantees are required to retain all officer positions awarded - including positions awarded to rehire laid off officers or to prevent lay-offs - for a period of 12 months. The additional officer positions should be added to the grantee's law enforcement budget with state and/or local funds, over and above the number of locally -funded officer positions that would have existed in the absence of the grant. Absorbing CHRP-funded officers through attrition, rather than by adding the extra positions to your budget with additional funding, does not meet the retention requirement.