08-27-03 Personnel & Finance - Laserfiche WebLink

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Personnel and Finance Committee August 27,2003 Page 3 the department to meet their goals and objectives. She noted that she would like Chief Fautz to address the objectives and challenges they are seeking in light of their proposed 2004 Police Department budget. 2004 Communications Center 2003 Expenditures $ 1,207,880 General Fund # 101-0802 2004 Expenditures $ 1,410,896 Mr. Pinckert noted that they are asking for two (2) additional Communication Specialists, noting that they are currently operating at bear minimum. He added that all position must be filled. There is required training and certification is required. There is a cost of $31,000 to train off-duty, noting that all training is done locally. Training must be done every other year with training taking place in EMD, CPR and IDAC. Overtime is in the hole since now they are paying time and one- half for training time. With the additional of the two (2) additional Communication Specialists, some of the training can be done on duty time. They are requesting that Dispatchers be paid $750 over the 4% increase which would bring the salary to$28,000. It was noted that Mishawaka starts their Dispatchers at$28,000 whereas the City of South Bend starts their Dispatchers at$23,000. The Communications Center is experiencing a tremendous amount of turn over, high stress levels and pay issues. The overall increase request of$253,000 with $144,000 of this amount for salary increases and $83,900 for health insurance increases. The budget reflects decrease of$2,000 in supplies. He noted that most of the employees are female and that they are trying to keep their staff in place. Council President White inquired whether the Communications Center is reflective of the growing diversity of our community. Asst. Chief Kilgore noted that this is a problem. There is a need for individuals to speak Spanish and it has been difficult to recruit such individuals. Council President White inquired about potential liability issues of not have individuals who speak Spanish in the Communications Center. Asst. Chief Kilgore stated that they are working with the various universities and have offered Spanish classes in the past. Currently they utilize Ameritech which can patch calls into interpreters. Council Member Kirists asked about the number of personnel per shift and was advised that it is 25 Dispatchers. They would like to have a swing shift in addition to the current three(3) shifts. Asst. Chief Kilgore noted that they are pursuing Homeland Security grant monies for the Communications Center with the next grant application of$204,000 being applied for next week. He further noted that they are currently down one(1) Dispatcher. Council Member Pfeifer requested a copy of the written job description for a Dispatcher. The Council Attorney suggested that in light of the problem of getting individuals to work the night shift in the Communications Center that they may want to consider offering a shift differential. Council Member Pfeifer noted that shift differentials have worked effectively for years in other private industry positions.