Salt Lake budget changes making police officers upset

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Richard Piatt reportingTough times are hitting Salt Lake City. The city council is dealing with the tightest city budget in years, and the mayor blames higher gas prices for a proposal that has some police officers upset.

Most of the Salt Lake City employees who take home their cars are police officers. They pay for that benefit, and may soon be paying more -- 30 percent more.

Salt Lake budget changes making police officers upset

Police officers aren't the only city employees allowed take-home cars, but they're the vast majority of the city fleet. Considering it is a benefit that has been around for a while, some officers are reluctant to change much about it, especially how much they pay.

"Having those cars in locations other than downtown Salt Lake to respond gives us a definite advantage," said Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank.

Burbank is trying to emphasize the intangible benefit to having officers take their cars home. Officers pay a monthly fee based on how far outside the city limits they live. He says that part of the rank and file outrage happened because of an oversight that kept the proposal from being revealed until the last minute.

But the city is still dealing with harsh economic realities. "We're not trying to stop the police department from having take-home cars at all. We feel it's important to look at as far as what it costs," explained David Everitt, Mayor Ralph Becker's chief of staff.

Both the city council and Mayor Becker's staff are going line by line through the city budget right now. Facing a $9 million shortfall this year, compounded by the higher fuel prices, a piece of correcting the shortfall is to raise the employees' cost by 30 percent next year.

That 30 percent increase will raise an additional $112,000 next year. But even that won't be enough to compensate for the projected increase in gas, which is $500,000. "We're all feeling the pinch, and police officers are not exempt from that," said Salt Lake City Councilman J.T. Martin.

In fact, other city departments are also facing cutbacks this year. That includes the fire station near 900 East and 900 South, which could be reduced to a medical-only responder.

E-mail: rpiatt@ksl.com