At the Special Session held this evening, in a vote that seemed to have the full support of the police, the staff and the citizens, (except for one), the Oro Valley Council approved the 2009-2010 police budget.
Without going into too much detail the new budget's most important provision is the saving of all police jobs, and adding a dispatcher. This was accomplished mainly by transferring four personnel to other departments, thus lessening the police budget by eliminating some redundancy.
Additionally, other items were either cut or eliminated to save money. The total savings in the police budget exceeds $1.3M.
Still to be determined is the status of the Municipal Operations Center and the police substation planned for the OV Marketplace. Potentially, cuts in either or both could save additional funds in the police budget. These two items are scheduled for the May 6 council meeting.
As for the item on police take home vehicles, no decision was made, but this will be discussed at a future Study Session.
Let's give credit to those that deserve the credit.
Topping the list is citizen John Musolf, whose expertise was instrumental in tonight's vote.
Council Member Bill Garner who presented the new proposal last Wed, plus Council Member Salette Latas who worked hard to achieve this outcome.
Additionally, the full council for doing the right thing as evidenced by the 7-0 vote.
Chief Danny Sharp and his officers that met with John, Bill & Salette earlier in the day, along with Finance Director Stacy Lemos did a great job of hammering out this compromise.
Finally, our Town Manager David Andrews who summed it up clearly & concisely in four words----"It's a Win, Win Situation!"
