Budget season is fast approaching for the Riley County Police Department.
The department on March 16 presented to the Law Board its first budget proposal which includes a 4 percent increase (around $900,000) in new funds. Captain Josh Kyle says the proposal asks for the hiring of a part-time clerk to assist with administrative duties with training, public information, human resources, accreditation and finance.
“By having a part-time clerk, we’ve placed ourselves in a position where our training staff will spend less time doing data entry and more time working on our projects that support our overall strategic goals,” Kyle said.
The part time clerk would work 20 to 25 hours per week and would free up administrative time to focus on larger objectives and goals.
RCPD is also asking for over $236,000 to support a 1.5 percent cost of living adjustment for RCPD employees and $40,000 for new guns and equipment. Kyle says the account is underfunded and doing so would give them about $100,000 annually to spend.
“Things just get more expensive. Vests costs more, guns cost more, the equipment officers use go up over time. Based on our trend we’re looking at about a $40,000 underfunding situation. We feel now is a good time to tackle this issue,” he said.
The $40,000 as proposed would be pulled from the non-personnel portion of the annual RCPD budget.
The proposal would bring the department’s annual operating budget to around $23 million.
The budget talks will continue and is anticipated for approval by summer.
