When the Waldoboro Board of Selectmen voted July 9, to cut the fiscal year 2014 Police Department budget by $110,000, Chief Bill Labombarde asked them not to reduce municipal spending “on the backs of the police department.”
After Selectman Ron Miller said the cut would not compromise the safety of the public or police personnel, Labombarde disagreed and said the money could only be saved through a “reduction in services.”
Waldoboro has a population of slightly more than 5000, about the same as Paris, in Western Maine, with a population of 5183. Nearby Rockland, the Knox County seat, has 7300 residents. Dover-Foxcroft, in Piscataquis County, has 4200 residents.
Waldoboro’s Police Department employs 8.33 workers, including the chief, a sergeant, four patrol officers, a school resource officer and a 1/3-time support staff member. Two reserve officers are available on an as-needed basis.
The department covers 100 miles of road that includes parts of two state highways and a developed section of U.S. Route 1. They responded to 6964 incidents in 2012.
Paris has the same number of staff members with a similar distribution of responsibilities. They do not have a school resource officer. Paris has 75 miles of road with three state highways and no federal arteries traversing the town. In 2012, Paris police responded to 6632 calls.
Rockland is a major service center with 59 miles of road covered by a 21.5-member police department that includes 10 patrol officers. There were 11,544 calls for service in Rockland in 2012.
A six-person staff is responsible for covering Dover-Foxcroft’s 100 miles of mostly rural road that includes four state highways. This includes a chief, a sergeant a detective and two patrol officers. The twin towns have a roster of 8-10 reserve officers who responded to 1321 calls for service in 2012.
In 2013, Waldoboro’s police budget was $621,543, according to Town Manager John Spear. Paris Police Chief Jerry Hinton said his 2013 budget was $505,943. Rockland spent $2,029,461 on police services in 2013, or $278 per resident, compared to $126 per resident in Waldoboro’s budget.
Paris spent $97 on law enforcement per person in 2013. Dover-Foxcroft’s 2013 budget was $359,825 and represented a cost of $92 per resident.
Waldoboro’s projected 2014 police department budget of $531,585 represents a cost of $105 per resident.
The Waldoboro Board of Selectmen will meet with the budget committee on Thursday, July 18 at 6 p.m. to consider and make adjustments to the 2014 budget.
The agenda for that meeting calls for the board to execute a town meeting warrant at that time. The July 18 meeting will be at the Waldoboro Municipal Building and will be televised on Lincoln County Television.
For more information about Waldoboro’s budget, call the town office at 832-5369.