During Police Chief Shawn Heubusch’s review of his department’s budget Tuesday evening, he was asked how often the shared heavy-duty MRAP vehicle is used.
The city and county share the maintenance costs of this six-figure vehicle; it is often purchased and deployed for military use. The acronym stands for Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected.
And while it could be likened to that pricey classic Mustang that sits in the garage year after year collecting dust and costing a small fortune of insurance and maintenance costs, but impresses during the high school reunion, the MRAP does more than ensure a good impression.
“It goes out on every single call. And during the blizzard of 2022, it went out and saved lives, so it did exactly what it was meant to do,” Heubusch said during City Council’s workshop at City Hall. “We really thought it would be used for a flood, and it was a blizzard, but it worked perfectly.”
You may recall the stories about those hundreds of motorists — even including some fire trucks and ambulances — stuck and stranded in the drifting hills of snow throughout the western end of Genesee County in late December. That MRAP ate through it all to get to people and extract them from the life-threatening elements.
Transportation-related costs include fuel at $57,000, repairs at $11,000, tires for $8,800, towing, at $1,000 and rust undercoating at $2,500 for a total of $80,300 in this next year’s budget, he said. Salaries and benefits expenses absorbed the biggest amount of the budget, with a $2,674,860 for regular and $220,000 going towards overtime costs, plus holiday, longevity and shift differential pay for a total $3,038,830 for police personnel expenses.
There are three vacancies, including one position that’s “frozen,” Heubusch said. The department will be recruiting for those other two positions, and to fill two retirements that are forthcoming later this year, he said. Finding candidates continues to be a tough job in itself, he said.
“It’s disheartening,” he said. “The number of people taking Civil Service tests is dwindling very, very rapidly.”
His review of the $4,323,847 budget also included repair and maintenance costs of the current police station — an expense he hopes will be the last “at 10 West Main St.,” he said, referring to the reality of a new station being built in the next year; and training as a way to stay up to date with “the latest and greatest,” including a two-week sniper course. Community policing and events have a cost of $12,440, associated mostly with overtime due to these events meaning overtime for after-hours events, he said.
And then there’s the category that seems to make everyone smile: the K9 unit, for $950, and the officer handler’s costs within the personnel category. The dog and handler spend their time together, and attend monthly training so as to maintain what they’ve learned, Heubusch said.
“The handler is compensated for caring for the dog,” he said. “He’s a working dog, so he’s always working.”
Council President Eugene Jankowski Jr., who was on the police force for several years, said the job takes someone who loves canines. No matter how special the K-9 four-legged is, it can still get messy, and needs to be tended to, he said.
“He does wonderful things,” Jankowski said. “But he’s a dog.”
No one on council had any amendments to make for the budget, which, as it stands, is headed to exceed the tax cap with a total of $6.6 million to be raised by taxes. The tax rate is to remain unchanged at $8.54 per $1,000 assessed value.
The city does not have plans to raise assessments again this year, City Manager Rachael Tabelski said. Assessments for many properties in the city were hiked for the last two years in a row, which made property owners’ tax bills increase even when the tax rate itself did not go up.
So if your assessment went up from $90,000 to $100,000, and the tax rate is a flat $8.54 per $1,000, that will mean an increase of $85.40 per year.
A public hearing about the budget has been set for 7 p.m. on Feb. 27 at City Hall.
File Photos of Police Chief Shawn Heubusch, from the City of Batavia; the MRAP, by Howard Owens, and K9 dog Batu and Handler Stephen Quider receiving a donation on behalf of Batavia Police Department in February 2022, by Howard Owens.
