The city of Redmond is working on a proposed budget for the next fiscal year that would fund additional police officers at the cost of investing in other departments.

“These issues aren’t easy fixes,” said Keith Witcosky, Redmond city manager. “We are trying to find a way to fund three more officers, but we are doing it at the cost of other services. We were asked to look into our budget, and we have kind of scraped (up) ways to fund three more officers, but other services will be impacted.”

According to the proposal, the $46.1 million budget for the 2018-19 fiscal year is a “public safety focused budget” and proposes funding three more police officers and an officer to help with evidence processing. The four positions account for 70 percent of the general operating funds.

The increase in police funding means trade-offs that include park maintenance and the use of reserve funds for road maintenance. In addition, the city will have no additional money for public transit or economic development, according to the budget proposal.

Although there aren’t any cuts to any departments, the funding they would receive is far below what it should be, Witcosky said. Parks maintenance, for example, was budgeted around $200,000 in 2017-18 and is proposed to increase to $250,000 in the upcoming fiscal year. But in order to adequately staff and supply the department, the budget should have been nearly doubled, Witcosky said.

“In a perfectly funded world, we would need half a million dollars for park maintenance and three more parks employees to be staffed at the level we need to be staffed,” he said. “In addition, we would have an additional $70,000 to put toward road maintenance. So there are gaps there, but those come at the consequence of prioritizing public safety.”

The budget committee has met twice to discuss the impact of a public safety budget and will meet May 2 to approve the proposal or amend it. Public feedback is always welcomed, Witcosky added.

“We explained what it means to have a public safety budget and what the trade-offs are,” he said. “We are not investing at the level that we should be in other areas.”

A $6 public safety fee was pitched to the council in September as a way to fund six additional officers in Redmond. The fee was intended to bring the staffing ratio of 1.3 officers per 1,000 residents to 1.67 officers per 1,000 residents, though if the budget is approved, the council will return to the discussion about implementing a public safety fee the remaining three to five officers.

After a public safety fee was met with negative feedback, city council shelved the idea and focused on getting the officers funded a different way.

“We have to align our priorities with our resources,” said Councilor Jon Bullock in a February city council meeting. “We have to find a way to fund those six officers.”

The Redmond Police Department declined to comment on the budget.

At the May 2 meeting, the budget committee will discuss the gaps in funding, how many officers it wants to fund in the next fiscal year and how to move forward with a possible public safety fee.

— Reporter: 541-617-7829, acolosky@bendbulletin.com