Police chief: Budget leading to department's low morale

COLFAX - Police Chief Rick McNannay told the mayor and city council Tuesday night that aging equipment, a tight budget and understaffing are leading to low morale for his officers. McNannay made the remarks while presenting a year-end report for the Colfax Police Department.

During an interview later, he said four of his five officers currently are looking for work at other agencies.

"I don't think this is any fault of the city," he said. "The city and council are doing a good job. It's just getting to the point where we need to pursue other funding opportunities, such as an emergency services levy."

McNannay has been the Colfax police chief for six years. He said the police department's annual budget is about $550,000, and after employee salaries and operations there isn't enough money to upgrade equipment. He said the department ended up $37,000 in the hole for 2017.

The department uses a 2005 Crown Victoria, a 2004 Ford Explorer and a 2013 Ford Taurus Interceptor for patrols.

"The technology is old; the car is old," McNannay said. "We get pursuits going through our town and if we need to respond or assist the county or the state, we need to have a vehicle that can do it."

A second Ford Taurus Interceptor crashed last year. McNannay said the insurance company covered the cost of the car ($19,000), but the money was used to balance the department's budget rather than purchase a new vehicle.

McNannay said the deficit stems from rising insurance costs and taxes.

On top of that, Colfax Mayor Todd Vanek said general-fund revenues, which fund the department, were down last year. A $52,000 contract with Whitman Medical Center to provide 24-hour patrols in the city also was slashed to $10,000 in 2017, which didn't help the budget. The department has since halted 24-hour patrols.

McNannay said one police officer position has been left unfilled since May to save on costs, and another of Colfax's four police officers will go on maternity leave next month.

He said an emergency services levy - widely used throughout the state for agencies that don't have an adequate tax base - would help fund new equipment and loosen up the budget so positions wouldn't have to go unfilled.

"That's how they provide the services," he said. "The only thing that will keep us afloat in the future is an emergency services levy."

Vanek said he's interested in looking into funding alternatives, including a levy.

"We want to see what we need; these are taxpayer dollars we're talking about and we're not too excited to take money," he said. "We have to control costs before we increase revenues."

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Babcock may be contacted at jbabcock@lmtribune.com or at (509) 339-3423.