New Police Officers, Fee Hike Part Of El Paso Budget Proposal

It’s hot and it’s summer, and that means one thing at El Paso City Hall: time for budget talks.

El Paso City Manager Joyce Wilson has released her plan on how the city should spend its money for fiscal year 2012.

This year, El Pasoans will be spared a tax hike. Wilson proposed keeping next year’s tax rate the same as this year’s. The 2011 adopted tax rate was $0.65 cents per $100 of home valuation.

The total “all funds” budget proposed for 2012 is $706.7 million. Roughly $321 million of that comes from the general fund made up of local tax dollars and fees.

The proposal includes a $3 million general fund increase for the El Paso Fire Department, an increase of $2.7 million for the Sun Metro transit service, a $3 million decrease for the Convention and Performing Arts Center and an $87,000 increase for the city manager’s office.

Because City Manager Joyce Wilson put the budget proposal together, ABC-7 asked her to explain the increase in spending for her department.

Wilson explained that her office merged with the Office of Management and Budget in 2011, adding salary costs to the city manager’s office for 2012.

Wilson said her office is making cuts, too.

“Within my department itself, I’m actually eliminating a senior management position,” she said. “I’m also going to ‘attrition out’ one of the four deputy (city manager) positions between now and the end of the next fiscal year.”

The budget proposal also calls for a $0.50 increase in monthly residential environmental fees, raising them from $2.50 to $3.

Wilson told ABC-7 the increase would help pay for the maintenance of landscaped street medians and downtown street sweeping.

Also on the environmental end of things, Wilson has called for the creation of a new Vacant Building Task Force.

The four-member team of building and fire inspectors would keep close tabs on empty buildings in questionable condition. The task force would also keep an eye on the owners of those buildings.

When it comes to law enforcement, the budget plan would increase spending in the El Paso Police Department by $870,000, including graduating two separate police academies to add roughly 30 officers to the force.

Wilson said the department has also purchased 20 new squad cars, though the budget plan would call for many of those vehicles to carry only one officer at a time under a “one-person patrol deployment.”

“That actually takes the current (number of) officers you’ve got and puts more bodies on the street,” Wilson told ABC-7. “It has the impact of actually increasing capacity with the existing resources.”

None of the proposals are set in stone. The city will hold a series of departmental budget meetings starting July 13, according to the city manager.

El Paso City Council is expected to vote on a final budget in late August.

To view last year’s 2011 El Paso city budget, click here.