From the Indianapolis Star:
City-County Council leaders said today that
accelerating the city’s plans to hire police officers would top their budget
priorities in coming months.
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, a
Republican, is set to present his roughly $1 billion 2014 budget to the council
on Monday. The council’s Democratic leaders, President Maggie Lewis and Vice
President John Barth, met with The Indianapolis Star this afternoon to outline
their priorities ahead of time.
Last year, the first year of Democrats’
return to the council majority, Ballard used several line-item vetoes to force
a bipartisan budget deal.
“Going into the budget this year,” Lewis
said, “our goal is to prevent a train wreck.”
Lewis said both sides are going to have to
“give and take a bit” to avoid a repeat scenario.
The mayor has said he is planning a recruit
class of 50 officers next year, but the council leaders say twice as many are
needed to begin combating mounting retirements and to address crime levels that
they say are still too high in many neighborhoods.
Finding millions of dollars to pay for more
police recruits could cause strain. City officials long have said next year’s
budget faces a $55.5 million deficit, though the final figure could come in a
bit lower because of projected growth in income taxes.
...
