Joplin city officials to research funding options for public safety needs

Aug. 13—Ways to fund increased police officer and firefighter wages will be reassessed in May after city officials take steps to do what they can for the public safety departments in upcoming months and address voter confidence following two failed back-to-back tax questions.

The Aug. 2 defeat of a property tax proposal to increase pay scales for the understaffed police and fire departments and other public safety improvements was the second property tax proposal voters had turned down in five months.

A bond issue proposal to fund a $30 million renovation and expansion of Memorial Hall was defeated in April. There were fewer voters in that election and a slimmer 400-vote margin than the recent public safety proposal, which was rejected by nearly 900 votes. The August vote drew heavier turnout than April because of primary races for county, state and federal seats.

Opponents to the Memorial Hall question cited the cost of up to $30 million to renovate and expand the building as too high and objected to a property tax increase.

That cost would have been about $55 on $100,000 assessed valuation for real property and about $19.33 in personal property taxes on a $20,000 vehicle

Unlike the recent public safety proposition, which required a simple majority, the Memorial Hall measure required a four-sevenths or 57% majority to pass because it would have required bonds to be issued to pay for the project. The debt would have been repaid from property tax revenue over 20 years.

The public safety measure would not have involved debt but property taxes that are subject to reassessment increases every two years and was considered a more resilient source of revenue by City Manager Nick Edwards.

It was intended to fund salary increases for police officers and firefighters and take other measures to attract applicants and increase retention, particularly of current experienced employees who are at or nearing retirement. It would have raised taxes on property and personal property by $1 for each $100 in assessed value. It would have cost about $285 a year for a $160,000 house and $30,000 in personal property.

Voters turned down the measure 4,463 against and 3,586 in favor.

Shelby Howard, a retired Joplin officer who is president of the Fraternal Order of Police of Southwest Missouri, Lodge No. 27, said of the loss, "Obviously there is disappointment. Nobody likes taxes but we felt that was the best option at the time so now we have to start working on something else."

He questions whether any other measure would produce the amount of money needed to fund the higher pay scales and additional needs. Asked if proceeds from the use tax could be used, Howard said the use tax is divided among the city's various sales tax funds and the share that goes to the public safety fund is not large enough to generate the $8.5 million needed for the plan submitted to voters.

"I don't know if getting a bigger piece (of the use tax) would get us near where we need to be," Howard said. It may be too late now to retain officers at or close to retirement. There were two officers ready to retire who would have stayed if the proposition had passed, Howard said, and others who will be eligible soon.

The fire department will have to make some changes in the services provided as the result of the loss of the tax measure, said Adam Grimes, spokesman for Joplin Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 59.

"We were disappointed in the results (of the vote) as we do believe the plan would have solved many of our problems. Your firefighters respect the voice of the voters and will continue to work toward a viable solution," Grimes said. "The No. 1 negative issue we heard from the public was a lack of trust in the city based on past decisions."

Future efforts

As part of future efforts the city manager plans to discuss Monday, city officials will reassess the need and sources for additional revenue in in May. Those could include raising caps on existing taxes and looking at alternative taxes, according to city documents.

Until then, the city manager's plan is to more fully inform residents about how the city budget works, and address concerns expressed during the failed Proposition Public Safety campaign that the city misuses money or can't be trusted to spend money in accordance with representations made on election questions.

Among the steps, the city manager lists implementation of the police and fire resource allocation studies.

Those reports recommended not only increased pay but spreading workloads more evenly in the police department with new beat alignments and shift schedules because of the amount of calls officers have to take and current work conditions that include mandatory overtime.

Findings of the fire department study recommended staff expansion to meet raise the number of responders to fire calls and construction of an additional fire department to increase response to fires by the outlying fire stations.

Documents filed with Monday's agenda show the city manager also will address comments alleging misuse of city funds, mistrust of the city, negative economic conditions and the magnitude of the public safety tax increase.

While many voters said they support increased pay for police officers and firefighters, they disagreed that all the cost should be taxed to those who own real estate and personal property. Some favored another sales tax.

The city manager had said previously that because city sales taxes had not been keeping pace with costs, a property tax was the best option because it created more revenue to cover the $8.5 million cost of a higher pay scale for public safety workers.

Edwards also plans to provide more city budget and finance information by holding more budget workshops for residents, posting financial information more noticeably on the city's website, holding a town hall meeting, and bringing in speakers from the Missouri Municipal League to talk about what other cities are doing.

Additionally, he plans to more fully discuss council bills regarding spending and funding projects.

City officials have been under fire at public comment sessions during council meetings over spending and by some speakers over how money was spent and the details of projects.

Next steps in the plan to be discussed Monday include continuing internal equity adjustments on pay scale positioning of jobs and work on the 2023 budget plan.