Police Cost Shamokin $1.2 Million In 2013

Exact tax collection statistics haven't recently been shared publicly by city officials. Estimates on the collection of property taxes alone, not figuring in any other tax, are on the low end of between 70 and 80 percent.

In 2011, the last year for which The News-Item has figures from city officials, the collection rate for property taxes was 76 percent; the city's combined average collection rate for occupation, per capita and property taxes was 61 percent; the combined average collection rate for occupation and per capita taxes was just 46.5 percent.

Pay averaged $65,679

Shamokin's police department is a veteran force. The remaining nine officers have a combined 138 years on the job. The two furloughed officers wore the badge for the city for a combined 14 years.

According to City Hall, the 11 full-time officers were paid $722,472.65 total in 2013, an average of $65,679.33 per officer.

Add in benefits calculated by City Hall at $188,788.78 and that figure jumps to $911,261.43 - 74 percent of all police department expenses in the $1,228,237.36 budget for 2013.

Seven officers had family coverage at approximately $24,000 each, two had individual coverage at more than $10,000 each and two didn't enroll for the full benefits package, costing just $408 each. The health insurance plan for the police is the same that had been offered to city council members and the solicitor and controller. That benefit will not be offered for those officials in 2014.

The City Hall salary figures put the average officer's pay some $13,000 above the base average of $52,596.35, which totals $578,559.82 for the 11 officers in 2013. The higher actual payout is a result of overtime and, more so, compensatory time earned by and paid to the officers as per the terms of their existing union contract.

Griffiths believes department overtime costs, however, have been overblown by city officials. He totaled overtime at $68,246.73 in 2013, but nearly half of that, $33,013.97, was reimbursed to the city through various law enforcement grants.

The compensatory time can be carried over from one year to the next, although a maximum limit exists. It can be used for vacation time or cashed in at an officer's straight hourly rate, saving the city money rather than having to pay overtime, Griffiths said.

Scheduling adjustments by the officers - switching scheduled off days, for example - saved the city an additional $30,052, he said.

Calendar money used

The police department has also created a niche revenue source of its own to help fund equipment purchases.

When Griffiths took over as chief four years ago, the department took control of its calendar sold publicly, changing the format and pursuing advertisements. The new versions generate $7,800 each year for the department, the chief estimated. Versions for 2014 are printed and on sale now at the station for $3 a piece.

Handcuffs, ankle shackles, emergency lights and decals for aging cruisers, laptop computer, printer, flashlights, shoulder microphones, postage - all of it and more was purchased over the years by the department through its calendar revenue, the chief said.

Also, $250 gift cards are purchased from Atlantic Tactical for each officer. In the past, one officer used the money toward a gun holster as well as a flashlight attachment for his service weapon, Griffiths noted.

The city's existing contract with the police union, a five-year deal, expires at the end of the year. Negotiations went nowhere between the union and the city's hired legal counsel, Barley Snyder, and the matter is headed for arbitration in 2014.