NOTES
1. We would like to assist Chairman Bruno, but having only so much energy and we do not have the ability to cover all of the profligate spending problems of the County as we have tried to do here in our fair City of New Smyrna Beach. Besides, some of the most glaring issues are being addressed by the Volusia County Tax Reform Committee, which is setting up a watchdog budget sub-committee to examine the new budget when it is proposed. While everyone is looking at the inequities created by the local governments and their imprudent management of your tax bill property tax being one component, the reality is also in the growth of indirect taxes and the spending of that money for larger government and expensive building sprees for and on behalf of government employees. Significant savings could start with the purchase of a Quonset hut to serve as the headquarters for the Beach patrol, and by eliminating the assistants to assistants employed over the last five years ago that are obviously unneeded. It is not enough to tell Mr. Dinneen not to fill the positions he proposed for this year, tell him to look at the last five years of government growth that exceeded the cost of living and the County population growth percentages.
2. Forget the cost of constructing new buildings to house government employees. Those are sunk costs, but as Commissioner Hathaway stated at the Commission meeting to discuss the bloated construction costs proposed for the new and unneeded fire house, and the bloated proposal for a questionable police department building, construction costs are only the. Not only is there debt service and amortization to pay for the 20 year bond, but there are operating costs like electricity and water, maintenance, and the cost of furniture and furnishings that are not included in the construction costs. When you do not build, you do not incur these costs. Think of how the golf course is going to repay the $3 million expense for its upgrade.
3. For those of you who continually dump on the City Clerk about her salary and for not doing her job, we suggest that you become familiar with her duties as specified in the City Charter, and basic economics. Your comments suggest that you are not only deficient in an understanding of this basic knowledge, but of management and organization 101. You also don’t have a clue about government operations. If you are certain that Ms. Lowery is not doing her job, you have at least two options. Go to a City Commission meeting, stand up and make your complaint to the Commissioners, she works for them, or, write, call or email the City Manager and present your arguments or comments regarding her inefficiency. In either case you must stand up and be recognized, which you apparently do not wish to do.
1. We had always understood that during Bike Week festivities, Gilly paid the County for extra police presence for traffic and other duties. Seems reasonable, so we called Pub 44 and asked the new owner. How about $8,000 per event plus the cost for extra Sheriff's officers on an as needed basis. By the way, we are told that Gilly is feeling better and we wish him well.
2. We also checked out the rumor that another Yancey was on the City payroll. Not true according to the personnel director, and if the younger Yancey damsel has been seen around Parks and Recreation she is there as a volunteer. See, not everything in the City is a problem.
3. While we were wearing our curious hat, we enquired about the City’s labor attorney who negotiated the last fire department contract to see if he was the same lawyer who has been hired to represent the City in the current negotiations. That contract had the disastrous provisions on pension escalations that have quadrupled the financial obligations on the city. It appears that New Smyrna Beach did. However, we are not sure about Port Orange; they may have used in-house counsel. Their City Manager, personnel director, and in-house counsel are apparently handling the current Port Orange negotiations. Keep in mind, however; that Ken Parker and Frank Roberts were/are buds and Margaret (Mrs. Frank) Roberts is the city attorney. What a coincidence, but the three cities used same tactic as the fire unions. Have the same agreements implemented in adjacent cities. Curious, no?
NSBShadow.com.... Published Weekly, Direct from the Web.
Look to Us for the Latest Intrigues and
Tell Your Friends About Us!
Visitor on this Site This Week.
(Nearly 2000 hits last week. Thank you, enjoy your visit and come back to see more.)
You are:
June 11th, 2007
DEAR JOHN
As stated in the past, we realize that John Hagood, the City Manager, is limited in the resources available to him for pursuing cost reduction projects, so we have decided to help him out and provide draft letters for his review and forwarding to the appropriate people that might offer to help him resolve many of his problems, and free him up for important things, like how to have the CRA use its funds to put electric wires underground in the area it covers.
Memorandum
To: Brenda Hendrickson, Fleet Supervisor
From John Hagood, City Manager
Date: June 11, 2007
Please provide to me by the close of business on Friday a comparison of the operating cost for City owned SUVs among the individuals to whom each is assigned. I want a complete breakdown of operating costs of each of these vehicles, including the amount of fuel used in the last 12 months.
I will also need to know the number of miles each is driven on official business, as well as commuting.
The National Association of Fleet vehicles have charts showing the relative costs of each of the vehicles on the purchase schedule. Please provide me with an updated copy. If we are not a member, possibly the Volusia County Fleet Manager could obtain this information for us.
Thanking you in advance for your assistance,
John Hagood, City Manager
City of New Smyrna Beach
Administrative Office Building
120 North Causeway
New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168-9985
This article first appeared in the Daytona Beach News Journal on June 05, 2007. For those of you who do not read this newspaper on a regular basis, we thought the information would be helpful in your analysis of the current tax situation as it applies to New Smyrna Beach.
PORT ORANGE BALKS AT POLICE PENSION HIKE
By SCOTT WYLAND
Staff Writer
PORT ORANGE -- Looming property-tax cuts have prompted the city manager to question the cost of police pensions, which are estimated to leap by $371,000 this year.
The city last year chipped in $1.15 million to the pension fund and could wind up contributing more than $1.5 million this budget cycle.
In a memo to the police chief, City Manager Ken Parker called the $371,000 increase "unacceptable," saying it was enough money to pay the wages and benefits of seven police officers.
"It would be reckless and irresponsible of me to recommend to the City Council any additional funding," Parker wrote. "In my opinion, it would be equally as irresponsible on the part of the police officers to ask the City Council to pay the continual increase in cost."
Parker said he wasn't as concerned about firefighters' pensions because the city's contribution will probably be the same as last year.
An actuary estimated the increased cost for police pensions. The next step is to dissect the report to ensure the figures add up, Parker said.
If the rising price proves to be correct, then city and police officials must explore ways to reduce the expense or at least curb the inflation, Parker said. He noted that the city is locked into a three-year labor contract with police, and any changes to the pension must be negotiated with the union.
One union leader said everyone should wait until state lawmakers roll back taxes before changing the pension plans.
"It's premature to make any drastic calls because you don't know what's coming out of Tallahassee," said Detective John Jakovenko, a representative for the Coastal Florida Police Benevolent Association.
Police deserve decent retirement benefits, because their jobs are high-stress and high-risk, Jakovenko said. "Most people don't go out there and put their lives on the line for a complete stranger."
Port Orange employs 86 police officers, he said. They qualify for a pension equal to about 30 percent of their pay after 10 years, 60 percent after 20 years, and 90 percent after 30 years.
To offset costs, Parker suggests:
· Members of the plan contribute 6 percent of their wages.
· During years when funds fall short of estimates, members agree to make up half the loss. However, they wouldn't pitch in more than an additional 3 percent of their pay.
· The normal age to retire would be 55. Officers who retire at a younger age would receive reduced benefits.
· A person must work 10 years before being eligible for a pension.
The main goal is to reduce costs without paring benefits, said Cmdr. Tim Girard, who sits on the city's pension board.
A committee is forming to study the problem more closely, Girard said.
A sudden wave of officers retiring can cause pension costs to spike, he said. Weak money markets can also deplete funds, requiring more dollars to replenish the funds, he said.
The city invests 60 percent of the pension's incoming funds into equities -- such as stocks -- and 40 percent into bonds, Girard said.
Pension costs have escalated since 2003, when the City Council approved a more competitive retirement plan, Girard said.
Financing the police pension plan cost $314,000 in 2002, about a fifth of what it could cost in the coming year, he said.
Girard argued that skimping on retirement benefits creates high turnover on a police force because officers have less reason to stay for the long haul.
Inexperienced officers are more likely to make mistakes that can lead to lawsuits, he said. "You can't see the hidden costs that are involved in a high turnover rate."
Editor’s note: Mr. Parker does not mention that he, the personnel director, and the city attorney negotiated these pay and pension agreements and recommended their approval to the city commission!
NOTICE OF PROPERTY TAX
The City of Edgewater has published on its website a detailed analysis of how the property tax is collected and how it is spent. They have called a meeting on the issue, noticed it on their website, and placed an insert in the local paper. How refreshing! Apparently, they want to insure that their constituents receive notice of the meeting. Maybe they will not have a greater turnout than if they just placed the required legal notice of the meeting in an obscure part of a newspaper, but they are certainly making an effort to have public participation.
The Edgewater website is quite instructive. It shows that the current property tax take is about 45% to the School Board and Bert Fish Hospital. By the time you reach the City's component of the property tax, the amount does not look like such a big number. Since you apparently can not find this on the New Smyrna Beach web site, try CityofEdgewater.org. Perhaps little John could learn from big Jon?
“Best Blog of the Week”
(Edited for grammar and punctuation)
A POTPOURRI OF CITIZEN COMMENTS IS
AGAIN PROVIDED THIS WEEK IN ORDER
FOR YOU TO GET IN TUNE WITH THE
MOOD OF OUR READERS
Double Standards Friday, 6/8/07, 3:48 AM
My posting 2 days ago questioned the principle of our City's code enforcement pressuring one existing business, Chases Restaurant, about insufficient parking for a facility their size with so many seats - while others, like Little Theatre and Pub 44 regularly use shopping center property near their business for their patrons and appear to have the full support of the same City. That's what I call - double standards. The posting was not about the quality of food (or lack thereof), or who goes there (Ovillers? so it should matter), or that Gilly pays for the police protection/traffic control. I didn't think I should need to point what the issue actually was, but the responses make it clear the point went over some heads. Having been fortunate enough to live here 37 years now, I marvel at the good old boys' network of inequalities, as does the Shadow authors in many articles. It should not be so. It doesn't change the fact that this is still a great place to live, period. We need new, ethical leaders and government that is equitable to all, not favoring a few in the inner circle. All this furor about the Fire Dept helps divert that fact, in some respects. I've watched friends of mine who became fire personnel and envied at times their 2 days on 2 days off work week and 25 year pension plan. But I've also learned about their health problems from exposure to harmful fumes and dusts, leading to permanent lung damage (Twin Towers "heroes" got that all in one event and are still reeling from it). And that some have died even in training exercises. And finally, that in recent decades, as a result of efforts to 'put them to work while they're on the clock', they've (management) expanded their job responsibilities and had to become certified medical response teams to satisfy the public and meet the needs of their communities. Through this shift, their entry into the medical profession exposed them to additional risks. Some of my high school buddies in Volusia, Orange and Seminole counties have contracted hepatitis, one is HIV +, and I've read about other ailments now common to firemen. The medical tie in also brought them justifiable and appropriate raises in pay. The constant whine of detractors here at this site I bet comes from many retired couch potatoes who have never even contributed anything to our local society other than complaints and labor to stop anything else from "going up in cost" once they arrive. The problems with what appears excessive pay in the City, and positions where it seems out of line (and that Mr. Roberts favorites got the gravy), is a serious area the new Mgr and City Commission can adjust - without layoffs. For the whiners - When you have a fire bearing down on your house, or need CPR or other emergency first aid, I hope you have the support of these men and women you now have judged so harshly.
Silly
Saturday, 6/9/07, 6:25 AM
Hail, hail the Chamber 75 years dung! Nice article. Is it my imagination that every time something goes under the knife in Shadow, we get a media blitz in our fine newspapers? The hotel complex that Mr. Dennis raves for will dump enough traffic on Washington St to cause major jams. The answer will be to widen Washington from the current two lanes to at least four lanes, all the way to SR 44. Don't forget, the Island Town Center and the Charm of it's traffic. All the 75 unit hype may be a way to tear down more of the CHARM. Ask the Holiday Inn to give figures of occupancy to find if we need another hotel. The Journal, Hometown News, and Observer seem to be celebrating Chamber accomplishments and has to go back to World War 2. What have you done for us lately? Little’s Drug store has problems the Chamber has solved, what? Training and Education, what? Supporting downtown Disney with heads in beds? How's that work'n out? How many of your children are working for a business that has been brought in by the Chamber? Why isn't there a list of accomplishments inside this story? In addition, a story it is! Be proud Chamber; bring out all you have done for NSB, especially concentrate on the last 20 years. NSB MEDIA, all the crap you can stand!
Saturday, 6/9/07, 6:42 AM
Our fine media continues on TV. Can you imagine how many cockroaches Michelle Meredith exposes during a news week? Or how Claire Metz can deliver a gut wrenching report of the New Smyrna ear biter. It is one thing for the local news lackeys not to ask embarrassing questions of local politicians and city supervisors, but for TV reporters and their staff not to pursue a story of nepotism and favoritism is just pitiful. Do not ask hard questions of city officials about cutting Meals on Wheels, city administrations staffing in all departments and other attempts at scaring the public. Show where the truth lies. You did not cover a reduction of supervisor’s salary for the wife of a department head, a suspension for miss use of city materials and a sexual harassment file. Do not ask about staffing for government agencies, programs that lend themselves to spending grant money on private canal dredging. We all know they read this rag! Sooner or later some real news media will pick up the NSB saga. Then, just like Watergate, the news slugs will jump on the band wagon. You should all be ashamed.
QUALIFIED POLICE VEHICLES
There are no such vehicles as qualified police vehicle. Scooters, including powered scooters, Segways, motor bikes, etcetera, etcetera, and etcetera are all used by police departments somewhere and we know of at least one police chief in the neighborhood who drives around in a Honda Prius hybrid. Smoke and mirrors are the issue, and the continued suggestion that the City will be sued if a policeman or a K-9 dog is in a vehicle not designated as “authorized” is just so much clap trap. There is just no excuse for the gas guzzling and unnecessary SUVs that are supplied to a large number of the brass at the police department, and there is no reason why they should not be immediately put in the motor pool and used sparingly as needed for police work.
Now let us address the vehicles that are “pursuit” vehicles that are designed to permit police to operate with a higher margin of safety in high speed chases. There are many models, including a specially equipped SUV. These vehicles have high performance features such as enhanced brakes and suspension, and they are designated as such by the manufacturer. We do not think that an officer who is not in such a vehicle should be engaged in a high speed chase, and if he or she chooses to engage in a high speed pursuit in a standard vehicle, we do not understand how the City could be blamed if they are hurt through their own negligence.
The real legal risks for the City is from sexual harassment suits brought by employees who believe they can show a pattern of abuse that was not curtailed after an incident or two was brought to the attention of the City. It would seem there is a possibility of more incidents at the police department or golf course, if they should surface, the City would be implicated for failing to prevent abuse, and the City as well as the individual who might be accused of being the abuser would be at fault. Demeaning female employees is seldom a single act. Abusers believe they are superior and do not suddenly become model citizens because they receive little punishment, since the system white washes the first offense or only requires the abuser to view a video on the evils of being abusive to women in the work place. Finding out whether an applicant would be rehired by a prior employer is important and if the answer is “no,” that is frequently the prior employer may see a future liability if it should rehire such an individual. It is the reason why prior employment investigations are made before offering new employment positions. That is also why completed and signed employment application are necessary.
This article first appeared in the Miami Herald. Read it, analyze it, and draw your own conclusion. Remember to consider the commenter’s stake!
MERGED FIRE DEPARTMENTS MIGHT SAVE MILLIONS
By Charles Rabin
crabin@MiamiHerald.com
State Rep. Julio Robaina has a plan that he says would save local taxpayers $50 million a year and turn Miami-Dade County's six fire departments into a single, lean, efficient unit.
Under Robaina's plan, if the fire departments agreed to consolidate, they'd be exempt from budget cuts mandated by the property tax reform that state lawmakers have pledged to deliver this month.
Merging the fire departments -- Hialeah, Key Biscayne, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Miami, and Miami-Dade -- would allow for reassigning several chiefs and deputy chiefs, for eliminating stations that overlap service areas and for uniting six emergency radio systems into one, Robaina said.
However, selling the plan, which the state lawmaker plans to unveil today, means navigating a political minefield.
For the plan to take hold, Robaina must weave through well-paid lobbyists while convincing the cities to give up control over their own departments. And then, there are the firefighters' unions, which would have to accept demotions for several chiefs and deputies.
Not even Metro-Dade Fire Union leaders, who helped create the blueprint for the plan and would stand to gain new members and new influence under it, are willing to back Robaina's initiative publicly -- yet.
''He asked us to do this a few weeks ago, and we provided him with the information,'' said Metro-Dade Fire Union Chief Stan Hills. Robaina said he intends to offer his consolidation plan statewide. All counties that agree to absorb their municipal fire departments into a single department would be exempt from cutting fire services as part of the property tax reform effort that resumes June 12. He said he intends to offer the plan as an amendment to any property tax reform bill that's voted on in Tallahassee.
The plan is bound to face opposition in Miami-Dade's municipal governments.
Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina -- no relation to the state lawmaker -- called it ``pandering to the fire union in Dade County.''
A study last summer showed Hialeah would save $2.8 million the first year it merged with Miami-Dade, but Mayor Robaina determined the savings weren't enough to dismantle the department, which costs more than $25 million a year to run. He predicted that in the long run, Hialeah taxpayers would have to pay more if they joined the Special Taxing District that currently funds Miami-Dade's Fire Rescue Department at about $400 million a year. ''Economically, they don't have a handle on it,'' he said.
Nonetheless, retired Hialeah Firefighters Union Chie Luis Espinosa said the city's department could stand to cut some costs to provide service and improve staffing. Hills, the county union chief, said that done correctly, creating a single fire department ``would be seamless. Nobody would notice the difference except for the firefighters.''
Coral Gables Fire Chief Rick Cook disagreed. ''I definitely think there is going to be a huge impact on public service,'' Cook said. ``But I don't think a regionalized fire department is something I see coming out of this. Unless we become too expensive
for Coral Gables, I don't think they'd ever think of giving us up.''
Carlos Gimenez, a county commissioner who was the fire chief and then manager of the city of Miami, said some facets of consolidation -- like a single radio frequency and eliminating redundancy issues – are viable. However, he doesn't believe there's a lot of support for consolidation.
''Some cities just want to have control of a department. What at least this does is it puts some things on the table and creates a framework,'' he said.
A CAREER ELECTED OFFICIAL’S
POINT OF VIEW ABOUT TAXES
By Frank Bruno -County Chair
Dear Citizen: We are collectively writing to you because of our concern about the upcoming property-tax discussions in the Florida Legislature and the impact of these on all citizens. Soon, state politicians will meet in special session to consider changes to our system of taxing property. Political rhetoric from the governor and Legislature indicates that they want to achieve tax cuts by forcing us to reduce your local levels of service. While we agree that the entire tax system in Florida is broken and needs repair, the fix being considered in Tallahassee would change only one leg of the system -- the property tax. The property tax funds the services you receive from your local and regional agencies. Services such as police, fire, parks, recreation, code enforcement, community planning, social services, jails, emergency management and roads and sidewalks are all supported by the property tax. You have helped us set levels of service in these areas through democratic participation in countless strategic planning sessions, budget hearings, advisory board meetings, and community forums over the years. We must make you aware that these community decisions and the level of service you currently enjoy are in jeopardy. Rather than conduct a comprehensive review of the Florida tax system, the Legislature is only focused on the property taxes levied by cities and counties. Pull out your tax bill and review it. You will see that cities and counties -- your general purpose local governments -- are approximately half of the overall tax bill. They are trying to get all of their proposed tax cuts out of half of the bill and have targeted your local services to do so. In your own lives, you make decisions based on all of the best available information and by looking at the whole picture. The Florida Legislature is not doing this and the consequences of this will negatively affect our community. State legislators are effectively shifting decision- making and power from localities to Tallahassee. Are you prepared to have the range and level of services local governments provide dictated to you from Tallahassee? You elect us and other local leaders to sit on the city and county councils. We hear from you at the grocery store, at school, at Little League games and everywhere throughout our community. We listen, ask you to participate and base our decisions on your input. That is why we believe the so-called reforms being proposed are a power grab that moves fiscal decision-making away from your home town. We believe in home rule and that decisions regarding the amount of taxes to be levied and for what purpose are best made locally. While the Legislature and governor say they want to reduce property taxes, during the regular legislative session they unilaterally raised your property taxes by $546 million statewide in order to support education. They have no problem raising property taxes when it fits their needs but slash local governments' revenues without considering the consequences. In making its decisions, the Legislature has not reviewed where increased revenues went during the real estate boom. We can tell them. It was invested in the community -- fire and police, parks, expanded library hours, night bus services, better roads, etc. When these services were added or facilities were built, they were hailed as great and needed investments. They were always made with the input and usually at the request of the citizenry. We are proud of the advances our communities have made in the last five years. We value the trust you place in us and the opportunity you give us to serve. We understand that we must be the best stewards of your tax dollars, keep our fiscal houses in order, and control government spending. We pledge to continue working with you to do so. However, we need your help. The power to shape the future of your community rests in your hands. We ask you to contact the governor and members of our legislative delegation, and tell them to address our broken tax system in its entirety, give serious consideration to the impact of tax cuts on local services and not enact a new law that will increase the powers of the state by removing powers from your city or county, the level of government that is closest to you.
Read, analyze, and draw your own conclusions!
CLOSURE OF CRIMINAL CASES
Last week we published an article on Deltona's exploring local control and establishing a Deltona police force. It seemed like an insane idea to obligate millions of dollars to replace the current service provided by the Volusia County Sheriff. Aside from the siren call of the term “local” control which almost always pulls politicians on the rocks, those who are pushing for this new way to throw away money have questioned whether enough cases have been “closed”. They have stated that the so-called “closure” of criminal cases is indicative of the level of effectiveness of police protection for the public. Would that it were true, but there are so many variables it is almost impossible to say that it is a useful marker. Worse, the definition of a “closed “case often is in the eye of the beholder. Several sources were most helpful in understanding the complexity of these determinations, and we acknowledge the help.
First, as previously stated, the rules are complicated, and calculating clearance rates can be problematic. (Florida Department of Law Enforcement's (FDLE requirements) We are not certain how often compliance audits are conducted; however, we can tell you that clearance rates fluctuate wildly. In 2005 (the most recent year for which annual statistics are available), the statewide clearance rate was 22.6 percent. Here in Volusia County during that year, the clearance rate was 24.5 percent. However, the individual agency clearance rates in Volusia County ranged from a low of 11.9 percent in Edgewater to highs of 55 percent in Oak Hill and 44.8 percent in Ormond Beach. The explanation requires a little speculation on our part. For instance, Oak Hill’s relatively high clearance rate may be the result from the low number of crimes occurring in the City. However, for a city the size of Ormond Beach, it makes you wonder what they’re doing different from the other Cities in order to have a clearance rate that’s nearly double both the countywide and statewide averages. Is the Ormond Beach Police Department that much more effective at solving crime, or do variances in reporting methods explain the differences? We believe you will have to be the judge.
Over the years, there have been scandals involving law enforcement agencies accused of falsifying or manipulating crime and/or clearance rates. For instance, in 1999, the Sun-Sentinel conducted its own investigation that showed the Boca Raton Police Department had manipulated its crime rate by downgrading certain reported offenses so they would not be reflected in FDLE’s UCR report. (FDLE’s UCR reports track reported offenses in seven separate categories called Index Crimes. The categories are murder, forcible sex, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft). More recently, in 2005, several members of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office were charged with crimes for allegedly under-reporting crimes and artificially inflating the agency’s clearance rates.
Clearance rates fluctuate from year to year. In Deltona, the clearance rate (19.4 percent in 2003, 23 percent in 2004, and 26.7 percent in 2005) was much more in line with the state average between 2003-05. The clearance rate decreased to 15.3 percent in 2006, and much of that can be attributed to the fact that Deltona is almost exclusively residential, and has been hard hit by property crimes, which can be among the most difficult to solve -- particularly when there is no forced entry in approximately 50 percent of the cases because victims fail to secure their homes and vehicles.
It totally unfair and misleading, as some of the Deltona Commissioners appear to imply, to suggest that a one-time drop in Deltona’s clearance rate indicates a mediocrity in law enforcement service. Does that mean that law enforcement service to Deltona was very good in 2003-05, but suddenly became substandard in our 2006? We think a much more objective method of evaluating the quality of service is to examine the cost/value of the service and the crime rate. Again, looking at the UCR crime rate for 2005 (number of reported Index Crimes per 100,000 population), Deltona's crime rate compares very favorably with other cities in Volusia County as well as other cities in Florida with a similar population. Here are Volusia County’s index crime rate stats for calendar year 2005:
City Crime Rate:
Ponce Inlet 1,262.7
Port Orange 2,048.3
Oak Hill 2,081.2
Deltona 2,355.0
Lake Helen 2,845.1
Ormond Beach 2,905.5
Edgewater 3,403.3
South Daytona 3,454.0
New Smyrna Beach 3,827.5
DeLand 6,593.5
Holly Hill 6,640.3
Daytona Beach Shores 6,801.1
Orange City 8,188.4
Daytona Beach 9,068.2
In addition, here’s a comparison between Deltona and other Florida cities of similar population, again based on 2005 statistics:
City Population Index Crime Rate
Deltona 82,973 2,355.0
Davie 83,726 4,130.1
Plantation 85,157 4.384.8
Boca Raton 85,311 3,616.2
Regarding the cost/value of the law enforcement services Deltona receives under its contract with the Sheriff’s Office, any objective cost comparison will show that Deltona is getting a very good service at a very fair price—in fact, compared to New Smyrna Beach, a very low price. The cost to Deltona taxpayers to establish and operate a municipal police department would far exceed the cost of the current contract with the Sheriff’s Office. Of course, whether Deltonans are willing to pay that cost is a political issue that must be decided by Deltona residents and their elected leaders. However, residents would be well-served by comparing the cost of similarly-sized police departments before making a decision. In our judgment, the benefits of contracting with the Sheriff’s Office are numerous. For instance:
Because of the size of the Sheriff’s Office, they are able to distribute costs and achieve an economy of scale that would be impossible for a smaller agency to achieve. They have access to resources and specialized units (dive, range, marine, bomb, narcotics, major case, SWAT, aviation, sex crimes, career criminal, intelligence, homeland security, crime analysis, auto theft, computer crimes, crime scene, etc.) that would be difficult for a smaller agency to afford. They assume a more limited legal liability. The value of this cannot be over-stated! In this litigious society, a lawsuit arising from one wrongful pursuit that results in injury or death could bankrupt a smaller agency, with less competent officers. Given the trend towards tax reduction, contracting out services with a larger agency makes good fiscal sense.
Obviously, the start-up costs for a new police department (cars, radios, uniforms, weapons, etc.) would be huge. They have a committee report that tells them so. However, another factor often overlooked in this debate is the additional services Deltona receives by virtue of the City contracting with the Sheriff’s Office. Obviously, the most visible aspect of the contractual service provided to Deltona is the deputy driving down the road in a patrol car. However, many citizens either don’t realize or consider all of the ancillary functions that go into the operation of a law enforcement agency. These are functions that Deltonans would have to pay for should they decide in favor of establishing their own municipal police department. These are but just a few:
Personnel/Human Resources
Budgeting
Payroll
Purchasing
Inventory Control
Grant Management
Computer Technology
Records Management
Evidence Management
Communications/Dispatch
Legal Services
Public Information
Infernal Affairs
Fleet Management/Maintenance
Training
Prisoner Transport
Clerical Support
Professional Standards
By the way, if you consolidate the three local police departments of Edgewater, New Smyrna Beach, and Port Orange with the Volusia County Sheriff's office, you would need to hire a couple of Brinks trucks to carry all of the money saved to the bank.
