Tentative budget calls for staff reduction

YEAGERTOWN - A tentative 2010 operating budget approved by the Mifflin County Regional Police Department's board of directors at its monthly meeting on Thursday evening calls for a reduction in personnel.

The tentative budget will be sent to the participating municipalities for their review and comment, after which point the board is slated to potentially approve the official budget at its next meeting in December - its last regular meeting of the year.

A motion was brought forward on Thursday to identify the board's decision to reduce personnel by four officers in its tentative budget. Board Chairman and Derry Township representative John McCullough said that decision came after involved municipalities announced they were reducing purchases of service in 2010.

"Basically, we had cuts in services, which resulted in a need to balance the budget and the fact that we didn't have as much response and patrol time ... therefore, that is the reasoning by the board to reduce personnel," McCullough said.

On Aug. 6, the Lewistown Borough Council dealt the first blow to the department's 2010 budget when it opted to reduce service from 38.25 to 29 units of service with each unit being made up of both response and patrol time. On Oct. 22, Derry Township followed suit and reduced service from 27.25 to 24.25 units of service.

According to the tentative 2010 budget provided by the board, the expected revenue for the department in 2010 is $2,092,103.63, as compared to $2,550,283.40 that was expected throughout 2009, according to budget documents previously obtained from the board.

"We looked at the entire budget before we considered reducing (personnel) - because were talking about human beings here," McCullough said. "Our initial proposal was to buy vehicles and things like that but we chose not to. The first thing that went was the vehicles - not personnel."

McCullough said the board would make the decision to lay off the four officers based on seniority and that it would likely "occur around the first of the year."

"This is not something we did easily and this is the first time we've had to do this," McCullough said.

President of the Lewistown Police Association- the union that represents officers within the department - officer John Miles said the proposed reduction in personnel is "disheartening."

"Its a heck of a blow to the police force," Miles said. "They (officers slated to be laid off) are taking it pretty rough. Unfortunately, the way we layoff is that the youngest guys will be cut out and unfortunately, these are very good, young officers and they have a lot of potential."

Miles also said that while the police union was expecting the board to propose layoffs, the number of officers affected was not exactly expected.

"There is always a rumor mill, and the rumors ranged anywhere from one to two (officers), all the way up to 10," Miles said. "We were not exactly prepared for the board's number, but we knew the range."

In other business during the meeting, a Derry Township resident, Deb Warntz, addressed the board with her concerns regarding how the department handled an investigation surrounding a high school prank, which occurred in the spring. Warntz said her vehicle was among those that were smeared with various items like baby oil, syrup, ketchup, mustard and silly string by high school students. Warntz presented to the board with paperwork regarding damage to her vehicle and e-mails between herself and officers investigating the incident. The board agreed to review the information Warntz provided. During the course of the discussion regarding Warntz's complaint, it was determined that the matter was deemed civil and her desire for restitution was beyond what the police department deals with.

The board convened in an executive session after the public portion of the meeting to discuss potential litigation and employment issues. The board meets at 5:30 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month at MCRPD headquarters in Yeagertown.