
Photo Credit: YourValley.net
Scottsdale is a city that prides itself on low taxes and small government; it’s a big reason why companies routinely move their headquarters here and new residents continue to flock here. So when unexpected costs hop into the budget it tends to raise a few eyebrows, as a recent development did.
Scottsdale’s employees racked up $25 million in overtime costs last year, an 11% increase over its cumulative salaries. The majority of this additional pay was racked up by law enforcement officers, with firefighters in second place.
This is absolutely not simply a Scottsdale problem. Chicago racked up over 20-times this amount last year, and 16 individual New York Police Department officers accrued over $100,000 in overtime each. But this is almost to be expected in cities with progressive leadership, where adding to the number of law enforcement officers often encounters significant pushback.
Obviously, the answer to this problem is hiring more officers, and thankfully Councilman Adam Kwasman is asking the right questions and facing this issue head-on. But a new development is making this issue a bit more difficult than simply just hiring people.
Scottsdale’s Chief of Police Jeff Walther will be assuming a new role shortly, and it won’t involve a badge. He has been brought on by interim City Manager Greg Caton to be the interim Assistant City Manager. A truly unique, outside-the-box choice to help him lead the city; obviously he understands the public safety component of city management like no one other, but one has to wonder what else he brings to this role.
In this role, Walther will actually be staying on as Chief of Police, he will simply be taking on additional roles within the city while an interim head is found and eases into the role. One has to wonder how precious little time he will have to focus on increasing the headcount within the department. However, one could also say that his direct link to city management may make for a stronger, more coordinated voice to speak up for increasing headcount.
Regardless of how quickly and effectively this is handled, we should be thankful that we have leadership that both wants to trim costs but also sees hiring more officers as a reasonable way to do so. Not all cities are so lucky.