Chief Riley: TMRB Has Everything We Need

Request of $19. 1 million is "everything I asked for"

“Mr. Mayor and Council. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to proudly present to you the Police Department's 2023 budget recommendations.” Thus began the remarks of Chief Kara Riley at last week’s 2023 Town Manager Recommended Budget study session. 

The budget request is $19.1 million [Panel below-right] for the Police Department. The request includes funding for every item that Chief Riley requested. In response to a question asked by Council Member Solomon, Chief stated that "I got everything I asked for."

Bottom-up budget involves "rank and file" and more

Riley built the budget request involving many of the personnel in the department. “Back in November 2021, we begin the process and discussion of what … police department men and women think we need in order to continue to be the best police agency in Arizona.” That means keeping Oro Valley the safest city in Arizona.

Requests adds two police officers.. frees up another for field work... focusses on recruiting

One of the key focal points of the budget is adding four positions: Two police officers, a dispatcher, and a civilian public information officer (PIO).  Staffing the PIO position releases an officer who is the current PIO for patrol work.

The goal of the PIO position “is to really focus on marketing and recruiting with diversity; so we want to make sure that we continue to have the best person to tell our story as a profession… We are focusing on marketing and campaigning to hire more police officers and get people in the door sooner” by working to increase interest in the profession.

Having the ability to recruit and develop officers is going to increase in importance. Some officers on the force are moving toward retirement. Future leaders need to be ready to assume new roles. Recruits will be needed to fill patrol openings. 

Inflation and availability play a major role in the budget. 

For example, there is a large increase in the cost of outfitting and operating vehicles. “Our biggest expense is vehicles. Right now we are starting to see the cost of the equipment for the vehicles go from $50,000 almost up to $70,000.” Availability is also an issue. “I have vehicles sitting right now that are not being outfitted because we can't get the stuff.” Other cost increase include the cost of gasoline cost.

Technology use increasing... drives up cost... but improves quality

The Oro Valley Police Department has been implementing technology to improve policing. "Every time we go to a crime scene there is technology involved. We must be able to gather information that is evidence. It is an expensive process of software that we have to be able to have in order to be the voice of victims.”

Chief Riley thanks the community

Chief Riley thanked the community for it's commitment to law enforcement [see panel above-left]. She also thanked her team.

Chief Riley thanks her colleagues on the Police Force

"Men and women in the law enforcement profession still come to work they serve every day through the structures of this job, through the pandemic and all the other calls for service that they may take. For that, I want you to know how grateful I am for the men and women of this agency. I want to publicly recognize all of them for their hard work and dedication to this community. I'm humbled and grateful and honored to be their Police Chief."

2025 TMRB: 80% Of Spending By “The Big Four” Departments

"The Big Four”-Water, Public Works, Public Safety, Parks
$115 million will be allocated in 2025 by four departments according to the 2024 Town Manager Recommended Budget ("TMRB"). The departments are Water, Public Works, Police, and Parks and Recreation. This is based on LOVE’s combined spending analysis of the TMRB (an explanation of our methodology is provided at the conclusion of this article).

Here’s is what is “driving” the spending

Water: $41.2 million
More than half of the total water spending of $41.2 million is allocated for capital items. The most significant is the town’s investment of $17.2 million in bringing Central Arizona Project (CAP) water more directly to Oro Valley. Some CAP water will be routed directly to Oro Valley from Avra Valley, through Marana, as opposed to being delivered through the Tucson Water System. Water Director Abraham believes that the new delivery system, once completed, will enable Oro Valley to reduce its groundwater pumping to below 5,000 acre-feet per year. Next year’s spending on this project is estimated to be $14.5 million, which will complete it. The TMRB budget calls for the Water Utility to issue $20 million in debt this year to finance this project..

Public Works: $28.3 million
Public Works is the town's workhorse, keeping everything running smoothly. It provides a wide range of services, including engineering; maintaining over 450 miles of roads, with preservation of 70 miles each year; ensuring traffic lights function properly; dispensing 20,000 gallons of gas per month; maintaining the town’s bridges and a fleet of over 300 vehicles; overseeing facilities maintenance for all town properties; managing stormwater control; and operating the town's transit system.

Public Works faces two significant challenges. First, town facilities are aging and require replacement. Bridges need resurfacing, and roads need milling. Second, inflation has significantly increased the cost of operations. For example, the cost of the pavement preservation program is projected to double from previous years due to the reliance on oil-based solutions.

Public Service: $22.9 million
Personnel costs constitute 85% of the operating expenses for the police department, with fleet replacement planned at 5% this year. Speaking at last week’s council budget session, Chief Riley highlighted that the key issue faced by the department is "It's very important that we prepare for the future regarding succession planning and training, and tonight is no different."

Being a police officer is a challenging job. As Chief Riley observed, "Our staff sees and hears things that they can't unsee." A major focus is providing a career path for officers. John Teachout, Oro Valley Police Field Services Commander, noted, "We aim to develop from within, so the budget requested for field services is targeted at the development and succession planning of line-level staff, enabling them to advance through the ranks with the same good fortune as those of us in this room, while also maintaining focus on health and wellness."

Parks: $22.3 million
Parks continues its robust spending. This year, the capital budget stands at nearly $8 million,with $4million allocated to the revegetation of the Vistoso Trails Nature Preserve.  This latter amount assumes that the town can get a grant of $2million for  the Preserve.  Additional projects include further expenditures on the Community Center building, an incomplete elevator, roof repairs, and a bridge on the Pusch View Golf Course. Furthermore, there are $1.9 million in debt service payments for the bond this council approved in 2021 to fund improvements at Naranja Park and replace golf course irrigation systems. In addition, there is a $12 million cost for the ongoing operation and maintenance of the parks and recreation system-wide.

Everything else: $22.6 million 

The biggest chunk of all of department cost is the $3 million renovation of the Court Facility.

Tomorrow: Personnel
Tomorrow, we take a look at staffing and spending.
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Our Methodology adds all the spending together
We consolidated all spending for each department, encompassing operations and maintenance, capital improvement projects, and debt service—a breakdown not provided by the TMRB. Unlike the TMRB, which organizes spending by fund without detailing some capital improvement projects and debt service costs by department, we either directly identified these costs or developed estimates for them. Additionally, the TMRB earmarks $19.7 million in contingency funds, which may not be utilized; thus, we have excluded these from our analysis. The TMRB reports total spending at $137.4 million, and we were able to attribute all but $2.2 million of that spending to specific departments.