CAPD asks for $33,386 increase

By Kevin O’Brien

With a new police union contract successfully negotiated, the Colby-Abby Police Department is ready to ask the cities of Abbotsford and Colby for an increase in budget contributions next year.

Under a roughly $1 million budget passed by the joint police commission on Monday, the two cities will pay $33,386 more for police protection next year. Abbotsford will pay $477,894 — or $18,362 more — while Colby will pay $391,004, an increase of $15,024.

The school districts of Abbotsford and Colby will also be asked to pay more next year, with each district’s share of the school resource officer increasing from $26,307 to $31,831, or $5,524 more.

Overall, police chief Jason Bauer said he continues to try and run a “tight ship” when it comes to the budget.

“If you compare it to the previous year, it’s not up drastically,” he said. “We’re up about $11,000, less than one percent.”

Most of the line items on the expense side of the budget stayed the same for next year, except for wages, which will increase by about $19,000, from $547,298 to $566,345, next year.

Wage increases of 3.5 percent per year for the next three years were included in a newly negotiated union contract approved after a closed session on Monday.

Under that contract, which covers six officers, a patrolman will make $27 per hour as of Jan. 1, 2022, and then $27.95 after Jan. 1, 2023, and $28.93 after Jan. 1, 2024.

An extra $2,000 each were added to the line items for fuel ($23,000) and automobile maintenance ($9,000), just to keep up with actual expense levels.

The line item for equipment was also increased from $9,000 to $14,000 to account for a $5,000 rollover needed to pay for a new squad radio next year.

One line item that is going down significantly is health insurance, from $127,471 to $112,840, mostly because the department got rid of a family plan expense.

Bauer was asked to explained the metal plate fund, which shows up as $104,500 in revenue and $100,000 in expenses. He said a majority of the money the department takes in for issuing license plates is turned over to the state, leaving an estimated $4,500 in revenue.

“We make $12 a plate,” he said.

Looking ahead, Bauer said he expects more longevity out of the department’s desktop computers now that all of the records are being store remotely as part of a new data management system.

“It’s not on our server, using our space for that,” he said. “Everything is stored in Michigan, so I think our desktops will last longer.”

The city councils in both Abbotsford and Colby will now need to approve the budget and union contract before they become official.

Other business

_ The commission approved $24,247 in monthly expenditures.

_ Bauer said the K-9 was deployed 12 times in the past month, resulting in seven drug arrests.

_ Bauer told the commission that the engine had to be replaced on a 2019 squad vehicle, but it was completely covered under warranty.