DEPARTMENT: Office of Management and Budget
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Scott Huizenga
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City Wide
SUBJECT: City Council Worksession on the FY 2021 Proposed Budget
SUMMARY:
Staff presentation on the FY 2021 Proposed Budget focusing on, but not limited to, the following City policies and initiatives:
A. Police Collective Bargaining Agreement Resolution
B. Results of Public Safety Listening Sessions
C. Police Department Budget
Police Collective Bargaining Agreement Resolution
The current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the City and the San Antonio Police Officers Association (SAPOA) expires on September 30, 2021. The Mayor and City Council are committed to a CBA with SAPOA that is financially responsible to the residents of the City and fair to the employees.
This briefing will present a draft resolution outlining Mayor and City Council’s policy direction and the community’s priorities for the negotiations on the next CBA with SAPOA including fiscal responsibility and reforms to officer disciplinary procedures.
Results of Public Safety Listening Sessions
The death of Mr. George Floyd in May 25, 2020 generated a nationwide outcry over racial inequality, police brutality, and the need for reform and policies to promote equity and just discipline.
Many people in San Antonio took to the streets through peaceful protests and petitions to demand changes, reform, and to voice the need for appropriate San Antonio Police Department policies to promote equity and just discipline across the community.
The City Council’s Public Safety Committee held three public listening sessions during the month of June during which comments from residents were received and compiled. A report with the comments received at these meetings was presented to the Public Safety Committee in June. This briefing will present the results of those listening sessions to the entire City Council.
Police Department
The table below reflects the budget allocation within the FY 2021 budget for the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD).
The FY 2021 Proposed Budget includes several enhancements to the department which are funded through redirecting existing resources. This funding is being used towards programs including domestic violence, community relations, creating a statistics and reporting unit, and social services.
The FY 2021 Proposed Budget assigns one civilian vacancy and one uniform position in the Police Department to form a Community Liaison Office. The newly formed office will focus on developing relations between the San Antonio Police Department, community members, and organizations through targeted outreach and collaboration with various neighborhood organizations.
The Proposed Budget further redirects three civilian vacancies to form a Statistics and Reporting Unit, which will study and document data related to calls for service, community interactions, and various other performance related metrics. The positions will report to the Office of Innovation.
As part of the FY 2021 Proposed Budget, 20 community services specialists with the San Antonio Police Department will be moved to Metro Health to work in conjunction with the Violence Prevention Initiative. These positions will maintain their collaboration with Uniform Crisis Response Team uniform personnel in the Police Department but work more closely with the coordinated efforts of Metro Health on the social services elements of violence prevention.
The FY 2021 Proposed Budget reduces $3.4 million in overtime. In FY 2019, the department increased efforts to fill uniform vacancies by adding funding towards cadet applicant processing to increase cadet class sizes. This investment has reduced the need for officers to perform district fill overtime. Some of these savings will be redirected towards a required cash match for the FY 2021 Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Grant.
Included in the Proposed Budget is $1.6 million for a grant cash match to the Department of Justice for year one of a four-year grant to fund 25 police officers funded from Department savings in FY 2020 and from the reduction in overtime. The COPS Hiring Program (CHP) is funded by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), and funds salary and benefits expenses over a three-year grant period. Part of the grant agreement is that the Department will retain officers hired under the grant for a minimum of 12 months after funding has ended. All 25 officers will be assigned to address incidents related to domestic violence throughout San Antonio.
ISSUE:
A budget worksession is scheduled for Wednesday, August 12 from 2:00 to 5:00 PM. At this session, the City Council will be presented with a briefing on a resolution regarding upcoming collective bargaining negotiations with the San Antonio Police Officers Association and a presentation on the results of Public Safety Listening Sessions
ALTERNATIVES:
This item is a scheduled worksession for the FY 2021 Proposed Budget.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact with this briefing. The FY 2021 Budget is scheduled to be adopted by City Council on September 17, 2020.
RECOMMENDATION:
This item is a worksession for discussion of the FY 2021 Proposed Budget and is for briefing purposes only.