Jackson Free Press

Department of Administration Director Rick Hill reported to City Council today that the city is facing a $4.3 million budget shortfall.

Without new sources of revenue, the shortfall would require all city departments to cut their budgets by about 4 percent, Hill said. He argued that it would be difficult to make such drastic cuts. "We've already cut these department budgets in recent years," he said, "so there's not a lot of fat left."

Hill confirmed that sales tax collections are down from last year. Based on the first six months of collections, there was a 7 percent reduction, which projects to a $2.6 million shortfall for the year.

The municipal court system had collected $219,952 less in citations than budgeted, Hill said, which would produce an additional $307,933 loss of revenue. Citations are down by about 15,000 from last year.

In addition to revenue loss, Hill described cost overruns. The fire department is clocking so much overtime that it will go $1.1 million over budget, a figure that appalled Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon. "Where is the accountability?" she asked. "A quarter of our deficit is caused by overtime in one department?"

Hill reported that the police department was on budget even though it was also charging large amounts of overtime because the number of officers had fallen so low. Only 421 of 485 budgeted positions are currently filled, according to Personnel Management Director Wendy Crumpton. Ward 6 Councilman Marshand Crisler said he suspected even that low figure did not accurately describe the actual number of officers on duty.

"I still don't believe that we got almost 425 officers physically and ready to go to work. I need to see that on paper. I really, really do. I'm not talking about the one's over in Iraq making the country safe. … I'm talking about the one's right here, going to work," Crisler said.

Hill also reported that the Parks budget was facing a $300,000 shortfall because the administration's plan to "outsource" the city's golf courses had not found any interested parties.

Last week, Crisler and other council members demanded a budget update, complaining that the Melton administration had already missed two deadlines.

Barrett-Simon was outraged at the financial drain caused by the fire department. "One fourth of our shortfall here is overtime in the fire department. That tells me that there's nobody in control over there," Barrett-Simon said. "How in the world could we have a budget reduction that all our departments have to absorb at $4 million plus, but $1 million in extra expenditure is coming from the fire department? Our other departments are struggling to keep our ditches draining, and streets paved and our services to the elderly. Why are we not demanding some accountability here? I know that in Precinct 4, they are at least 25 officers short compared to this time last year. How in the world, citywide, is the number we've been given accurate? Who here tells us what the real story is? … If the police department can keep their overtime under control, why is the fire department getting so much overtime?"

City Finance Manager Lawanda Horton explained that national fire codes require a certain number of firemen occupy fire vehicles during emergencies, and that the department was forced to meet the numbers by extending overtime.

After the meeting, Crisler and Barrett-Simon said the city is actually facing a shortfall closer to $11 million if the administration moves forward with its plan to give police officers raises this fiscal year. Police Chief Shirlene Anderson said she would request in a budget revision as part of her crime plan, but city firefighters have a union contract with the city demanding that any pay hike for the police be mirrored in the fire department.

"None of these numbers here include the extra money for pay raises," Crisler said. "Anderson said she wanted $3.6 million for a police pay raise. But there are more firefighters active than police, so you just doubled that pay cost by another $3.6 million. That's $7.2 million. Add that to the total budget reduction here and you're talking about a cost of more than $11 million that this city needs in order to satisfy all its needs."

Melton, who was present when Hill was unanimously confirmed by City Council, left council chambers just before Hill announced the budget shortfall.

This story has been updated since it was first posted.

Previous Comments

ID

91832

Comment

I'm not sold on the sales tax short fall. That being said.... If he just wouldn't have just thrown out the baby with the bath water... (pdf file)

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-04-02T17:08:15-06:00

ID

91833

Comment

Melton's temper tantrums are fine and all, but is he going to make up the shortfall himself?

Author

Ironghost

Date

2007-04-02T20:18:34-06:00

ID

91834

Comment

Well, folks, its crunch time! Is Melton a good administrator? I mean, /b/this is the Melton Administration. How are they doing? What 'yardstick' do you want to use to measure this administration's efforts? Crime? Money? Jobs? Population? Livability? New Industry? Sales Tax Collections? Utility Connections? You name it and then give this Administration a grade. So are they admitting to only 425 officers? It was 437 last month, I believe. What in the world is happening? If 425 is the correct number, that puts us within 28 of the number when Johnson took over ten years ago. I repeat, its crunch time! Time to move from the: "I had great hopes for Melton." To: "We don't have enough money or time to fool around with this failed Administration any longer." "We made a huge mistake in electing Melton." Just lick you wounds and put your shoulders to the wheel and let's move on. Why ride this elevator all the way to the bottom?

Author

ChrisCavanaugh

Date

2007-04-03T06:37:03-06:00

ID

91835

Comment

Chris, Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom in order to get back on track... I just hope that we hit it soon so we can move on. I question though, have we not already hit rock bottom or can we fall further? I'd personally like the City Council to pass a resolution that all elected/appointed individuals get drug tested, with a positive test resulting in termination. We already drug test our high school athletic department, why not the higher ups?

Author

LawClerk

Date

2007-04-03T07:10:47-06:00

ID

91836

Comment

LOL, Law Clerk! Who do you think would be caught in a 'blanket drug test'? Never mind, don't answer. Actually, that is a good idea. Yes, we can fall further but I don't know the ramifications as we are in unknown territory as far as I know. Probably after the Civil War or during the Depression the City was this far off of budget. Maybe some historian could give us an idea.

Author

ChrisCavanaugh

Date

2007-04-03T08:18:30-06:00

ID

91837

Comment

Chris, I'd like to extend the mandatory drug testing to Senators and Legislators as well... I mean, if you read some of these laws, it's obvious they are smoking something. If private companies ran like our city government did, they wouldn't be in business very long. That is another thing I just do not get. They run out of money, and it's no big deal! Just tax people more! Yeah!

Author

LawClerk

Date

2007-04-03T08:58:26-06:00

ID

91838

Comment

Why not the higher ups, LawClerk? Because that's an unconstitutional search, and you know it. The Supreme Court's decision on testing students in extra curricular activities is one of its shakier decisions, especially since it originally based testing of student athletes on safety concerns, which simply do not extend to the chess club. I know you're being tongue in cheek here, but City Council can't pass any "resolution" that would "terminate" the position of an elected official for testing positive. Drug testing anyone whose drug use couldn't endanger others raises my hackles. It's Big Brother, plain and simple. When WalMart tests "sales associates" for drug use, something is going wrong, wrong, wrong with our country. (I understand that such testing is constitutional, since it is not the government doing it, but I believe legislatures should pass laws banning such testing, which would also be constitutional.)

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2007-04-03T09:08:29-06:00

ID

91839

Comment

Brian, Not that I am against you on this one. I just have a question. If a public official is doing drugs, doesn't this endanger others? From making decisions on funding and staffing police and firefighters to protect me to simply driving on the same streets I must drive - I would feel endangered and at that point are my civil rights violated? Like I said, I'm not in total disagreement with you, just playing devils advocate and actually wanting to think about this before I make up my mind.

Author

ellis

Date

2007-04-03T09:20:06-06:00

ID

91840

Comment

Ellis, There are two distinct parts to your example. The first is legislation, the second is driving on the streets. The second embodies the sense of "endanger" I meant, i.e. more along the lines of drug testing bus drivers because if they're driving high, they might endanger a lot of people. I would argue that the first sense, that high public officials might make bad decisions, is so broad that makes "endanger" virtually meaningless. In other words, a high bus driver is an immediate, tangible threat. A high public official is a threat only in the sense that he might make bad decisions on legislation, which is quite different. Of course, bad decisions matter too, but we already have mechanisms in place to deal with that, since public officials make bad decisions even when they are not high. Those mechanisms can be abbreviated as liberal democracy, in that we force our public officials to make their bad decisions in public, and we place checks and balances on them to limit the damage they can do. I don't think injecting drug testing (if you'll pardon the pun) into our democratic process would improve the performance of government, and its potential for undemocratic abuse is enormous.

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2007-04-03T09:30:08-06:00

ID

91841

Comment

I see your point. In regards to the Jackson City Counsel, maybe psychological testing could be imposed to get them on the drugs they might need to be on. While we're at it just extend it to the surronding cities. Ahhh, a Seroquel-induced utopia!

Author

ellis

Date

2007-04-03T09:38:57-06:00

ID

91842

Comment

Brian, I'm somewhat joking at this :) I just like an even playing field!

Author

LawClerk

Date

2007-04-03T09:49:23-06:00

ID

91843

Comment

I just posted the more detailed version of this story I promised earlier. Barrett-Simon's comments in the middle express very well the profound frustration of City Council members. P.S.: I know you're just joshing LawClerk.

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2007-04-03T10:58:33-06:00

ID

91844

Comment

If I'm not mistaken, the firefighters union (one of the 2 the Jackson Firefighters are in) also has a clause that says that if the cops get a raise they not only get it mirrored, but $1 more per hour. This may be something that has changed, but I know this was the case a few years back. But having so much overtime really IS a problem with the people setting the city and the departments budget. Yes, they are required to staff a certain number of people per engine and truck companies (there is a difference between a fire engine and a fire truck). Rescue trucks are not counted by the Mississippi Rating Bureau. So since no new fire stations have been added, they knew at the begining of the year how many people need to work each day and can budget accordingly. It's not rocket surgery!

Author

ellis

Date

2007-04-03T11:12:32-06:00

ID

91845

Comment

citations are down 15,000. Units or dollars?

Author

Kingfish

Date

2007-04-03T15:35:12-06:00

ID

91846

Comment

15,000 citations, not dollars.

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2007-04-03T17:06:23-06:00

ID

91847

Comment

Gee, they weren't writing that many to begin with and now they're down from that? I'm stunned they chase murder suspects. Oh, wait... Their record isn't spot on on that, is it?

Author

Ironghost

Date

2007-04-03T17:08:41-06:00

ID

91848

Comment

sooooooooo................crime is skyrocketing...........we are 200 police officers understrength.............. and the number of citations are down 15,000 in one year when Melton claimed the whole focus of his administration would be crime-fighting. anyone see a problem?

Author

Kingfish

Date

2007-04-03T17:51:10-06:00

ID

91849

Comment

Yep, you got it. The Melton mirage is fading fast.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-04-03T17:53:08-06:00

ID

91850

Comment

The reason citations are down is because of all the drug sale arrests. Wait there aren't ANY arrests for sale.... What is Anderson and Melton's plan, write less citations, make no drug sale arrests, as a result crime goes down? AGamma627

Author

AGamm627

Date

2007-04-03T21:55:32-06:00

ID

91851

Comment

AGamm, I hate to think that that may actually be a strategy. Right up there with playing hide-and-seek by just standing there with your eyes closed.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-04-03T22:11:32-06:00

ID

91852

Comment

My suspicion is that the derth of drug sale arrests reflects problems with the UCR stats, at least to some degree. The notion that JPD has not made a single arrest for drug sales is very difficult for me to believe. Abysmally low numbers? You bet. Absolute zero? Surely not. It's ironic that Chief Shirlene Anderson decried ComStat numbers as cooked or at least inaccurate and now she's saying much the same thing about UCR stats. (See The Clarion-Ledger article last week when she said that UCR numbers on arrests for murder were greatly understated.) So I gather that the police department is completely incapable of keeping accurate crime statistics whatsoever. Good grief. Regarding drug arrests, I've had law enforcement professionals tell me that most JPD cops are poorly trained and essentially lazy, in that they go down the drug food chain rather than up it. It is pretty easy to arrest someone who has bought $20 of crack--easy and pointless. It is harder to arrest the guy who sold it to him, and much harder to arrest the guy who is supplying crack to a bunch of dealers. However, that's the only way to make any real impact on drug sales. Melton is avowedly our great crusader against "crack houses," but he and his moveable feast have never made any significant drug bust, to my knowledge. The night I was out on a raid with him, he tied up at least 15 to 20 officers for his magical mystery tour, as McMillin called it last week. It looked great for the cameras, but what didn't look great is that in 6 hours or so of disrupting traffic all over Jackson, the team made ONE arrest. That one arrest was of some poor slob who was asleep in his car at a hotel where we stopped. The cops more or less forced him to get out of his car, and it turned out he had one, teency-weency rock of crack on him. If I were a police commander and one of my officers came back after a night out on the town having made just one arrest for one tiny crack rock, I would give him very strong words. If 20 came back with only one such arrest, I think I'd have a stroke. But don't blame the cops, at least not for the farce of Melton's raids. We have 420-425 officers on duty, and that's just the number on paper. Crisler seemed to have more concrete reasons for thinking the actual number of on-duty officers was much lower than he expressed in council on Monday. Taking 20 cops out of that threadbare force for no practical purpose is absolutely shameful. If nothing else, at least Melton's indictments have (mostly) put an end to his police raids. Now, if we could just get those two JPD detectives assigned to "dignitary protection" out there actually making arrests. I am sure that morale is low in JPD for many reasons, but with this leadership, I don't know that I'd have much enthusiasm either. God save Jackson.

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2007-04-04T08:46:13-06:00

ID

91853

Comment

Pikersam, "the baby with the bathwater" being thrown out is priceless.! Johnson left a roadmap. melton really had Johnson's plan and the strategy to so many things that could have kept this city moving. He has been eaten up with the dump-a$$ and spent too much time trying to be vendictive. A small mind in a BIG place doing bad things is the deal that has gotten us in hot water. I saw him at Rev. Sutton's Anniversary Program this past Sunday. He was flanked by Tyrone Lewis. frank brought a "Proclaimation" from the City. He told the congregation that he did not believe in campaigning in the church. He didn't have to. The visual was worth a thousand words. I hope that this City will be samart enough to avoid another disaster. Falling for his BS two years ago was entirely enough. frank can not do better because frank does not know any better. His whole life has been filled with lies and games. The sad part is that the City of Jackson can not afford this type of maneuvering.

Author

justjess

Date

2007-04-04T09:29:15-06:00

ID

91854

Comment

Brian, Very thoughtful and thought-provoking post. Needs to be a full scale article. People need to read this. If, only 12 to 15 officers are actually on patrol per precinct per shift, or even 20, to take any off patrol to participate in the "magical mystery" parade/charade is irresponsible. Overtime use for this type of display is irresponsible. As far as JPD's lack of enthusiasm for the tasks at hand, any group in any industry will not perform well for long without accountability. If the brass can't interpret their self-generated statistics, then how can the average officer on the beat be expected to feel accountable? If the top does not believe their own figures, who's will they believe. From what I've heard, the FBI does not look kindly on misrepresented reports. Again, I urge you, Brian, to develop this letter into an article.

Author

ChrisCavanaugh

Date

2007-04-04T10:32:11-06:00

ID

91855

Comment

Hi all, First of all let me say that the 1.1 million increase in the JFD overtime budget is very incorrect. Not sure what Mrs Barrett was ranting about. Just for the record the Jackson Fire Department budget was the best ran budget in the entire City of Jackson last year. Check the Facts. The over time costs were lower then they have been in the previous years. Chief Chandler as well as other department heads was told to cut spending by executive order and thats exatly what he did. Thats just my quick two cents worth. Oh Ellis do some research before posting. Or at the least ask questions instead of making incorrect statements.

Author

jfdfireman

Date

2007-04-04T14:42:32-06:00

ID

91856

Comment

Overtime would not be a problem if the Human Resources Dept did their jobs. I know for a fact that they have not processed applications from last April. This was told to me by someone in the HR Dept. Barrett is upset bc, like in any city, the FD is the one dept that is solely an expenditure.

Author

ellis

Date

2007-04-04T16:14:11-06:00

ID

91857

Comment

Well, as I understand it, jfdfireman, Councilwoman. Barrett-Simon was raving about the numbers she was provided. As she should have been. Could it be possible that our FD is so screwed up that it can't figure out its own overtime amounts? It's scary either way.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-04-04T16:18:10-06:00

ID

91858

Comment

Chris, thanks for the support. I might well go into in more detail in a future editorial, especially if we get more accurate numbers on how many cops we do have in each precinct. Jfdfireman, don't blame Barrett-Simon. Those numbers were provided by your new Director of Administration Rick Hill. In other words, she is reacting to what the executive branch told her in a formal memo and in a legislative meeting. If the information is inaccurate, it's certainly not her fault. My understanding is that Todd Chandler disputes those numbers and will speak more on the subject at his confirmation hearing. If he does dispute those numbers, I think we will need (and I know City Council will demand) concrete documents proving it isn't the case. When you've got two different parts of the executive branch arguing with each other, it certainly isn't our problem. But tell me, JFDfireman, how can the payroll department be wrong about the amount of overtime? Really. How is that possible?

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2007-04-04T16:23:38-06:00

ID

91859

Comment

Hey Ellis: cuz someone told you? I'm not going to take this softball. I have a reputation to keep up. Fire away at it.

Author

Kingfish

Date

2007-04-04T16:26:08-06:00

ID

91860

Comment

Perhaps it should be stated that the management is screwed up at the FD. The day-to-day shift workers do the best they can do, with what they have to work with. I know of one officer that is one of the most intellectual minds there is when it comes to tactics and management. The problem is, he would NEVER consider being the chief of the dept because of those above and below that he would have to deal with on an everyday basis.

Author

ellis

Date

2007-04-04T16:29:13-06:00

ID

91861

Comment

King, I called up there for friend looking to move to Jackson. He was already fully trained and worked in a large dept. The HR Dept told me they were not accepting applications and that they still were going through applications from April of 2006. I only stated that because even though I cannot produce a piece of paper or link you to a web address that has it in writing, that was what I was told by the HR employee of The Bold New City (can we still use that one?)

Author

ellis

Date

2007-04-04T16:35:41-06:00

ID

91862

Comment

ladd, Mrs Barrett starting raving and wouldnt listen to anything further that Mr. Hill had to say. I am sure that the truth of the matter will unfold soon. Ellis your intellectual friend wants to be the Fire Chief so bad he can't stand it. He possibly would be a good Chief somewhere but not here.

Author

jfdfireman

Date

2007-04-04T17:06:04-06:00

ID

91863

Comment

Never let it be said that our firemen aren't the bravest first responders we got. These guys will even jump into a blog and go at it. Some of the best back and forth here has been at the fingers of firemen! Whatever issues you guys got I hope you settle... Keep up the good work!

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-04-04T17:12:39-06:00

ID

91864

Comment

I don't know ellis, but I do know what happened in City Council. BTW, if this is trying to turn into a petty squall between different factions of the FD, take it elsewhere.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-04-04T17:13:05-06:00

ID

91865

Comment

jfd - the intellectual I refer to is one of your captains ladd -I don't work for the city of Jackson, but have great respect for those that try to work there.

Author

ellis

Date

2007-04-04T17:22:06-06:00

ID

91866

Comment

Ellis I appologize for the cheap shot. Something that needs to stop and bring unity. Just for general information about 93% of the JFD budget is Salary.

Author

jfdfireman

Date

2007-04-04T17:43:42-06:00

ID

91867

Comment

Ellis there will have to be a posting in the paper for applications. The process has to start over once the General knowledge test is given which was given last March and the results were finally posted in October 2005. It is unfortunate that you friend by order of federal consent decree cant just laterally transfer to the JFD. That will hopefully change in the near future. A step like that will make it easier to keep the JFD and JPD staffed up.

Author

jfdfireman

Date

2007-04-04T17:47:56-06:00

ID

91868

Comment

There is huge potential with the city of Jackson! With the amount of fire the FD gets to fight and the amount of crime the PD has to fight, proper management from the mayor down is what is hindering the employees from taking an "ownership" in their city. Both of these departments have the potential to great models for other cities around the country. It appears that it will take an election, or a conviction, to begin the process of shaping things up.

Author

ellis

Date

2007-04-04T17:56:58-06:00

ID

91869

Comment

JFDfireman, I was at that City Council meeting, and your contention that Barrett-Simon was "ranting" and wouldn't let Hill speak is a lie. There's no other word for such a blatant distortion. First of all, she waited her turn to speak, letting both Bluntson and Tillman speak before she did. When she did speak, she made comments for about two minutes, asking the administration why it was that one department was (which is what she had been told by Hill, remember) was accruing one-fourth of the total budget deficit. As a legislator, it is both her right and her duty to ask such questions. Her questions were answered at some length by City Finance Manager Lawanda Horton, as we noted in our story. Hill deferred to Horton, who spoke on his behalf. She was allowed to speak at some length, as was Hill. In that same meeting, she praised Hill as one of the most honest people in government, and she voted to confirm him as department head just before the budget discussion. The claim that Barrett-Simon was "raving" and "wouldn't listen to anything further Hill had to say" is utterly false. It's clear that you are a supporter of Chandler, so it's not hard to guess why you are hostile to the fact that Barrett-Simon has questioned his leadership. You have every right to feel that way. However (and to put it bluntly), it doesn't help your case when you just make shit up about what happened.

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2007-04-04T18:06:57-06:00

ID

91870

Comment

Brian don't get so defensive. I can only go on what I was told from others at the Council meeting. Yes I am a Chandler supporter and would support anyone that were my boss as long as I think they are doing the best with what they have been given. I does bother me the a Barrett and atleast two other Council members have been against Chandler from day one. She knew of the shortage of firefighters. It was wide open in the media and council meetings since 2005. Mcnulty was even trying to get funding approved during his last few months. Anyway this is getting off base from the topic.

Author

jfdfireman

Date

2007-04-04T18:26:23-06:00

ID

91871

Comment

I didn't mean to sound defensive, jfd, but it bothers me when people assert things that simply aren't true. In the future, don't assert something as fact when it's only something you heard. I would also point out a very important fact to you, which is that neither Barrett-Simon nor any other council member has ANY authority to bring forward bills to address firefighter shortages. You seemed to imply at the end of your post that she has neglected the firefighters since 2005, but under our system of city government, council can only vote on what the executive branch places before them. It reminds me of the stunt (and there's really no other word for it) Anderson pulled when she flooded city hall with police officers demanding council support her proposed pay raises. Council members pointed out then, in considerable aggravation, that they have never voted against any proposed raise. The reason why there have been no raises is that the Melton administration has not proposed raises. Even now, Anderson has not managed to get her act together sufficiently to propose raises for the police department. City Council cannot propose raises or increased funding. Only the mayor can do that. Until he does, save your ire for him.

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2007-04-04T19:33:05-06:00