CPOA Director: city didn’t fulfill promise on public safety funds
Things got heated at Tuesday night’s Columbia city council meeting.
The director of the Columbia Police Officers’ Association, Dale Roberts, claimed the city has taken funds that were promised to public safety.
But the city said that’s not true.
The issue was brought up because of a December 1 council vote. At that December meeting, the council voted unanimously to eliminate five job titles that pertain to Public Safety Joint Communications.
The new 911 tax that was approved in Boone County now pays for the PSJC operations, so those five jobs are no longer needed in the city.
“We don’t know where the money went, but the money from those five positions would have easily paid for five police officers with money left over,” Roberts told ABC 17 News.
At Tuesday night’s meeting, City Manager Mike Matthes said no money was ever taken from Public Safety.
“There’s a detailed accounting of all the dollars and where they went and every promise made was kept by that,” Matthes said Tuesday night.
ABC 17 News reached out to city leaders Wednesday to find out where the money from those five eliminated job titles went.
Fifth Ward council woman Laura Nauser said the money is going toward the pension shortfall.
She said in 2014, the city increased its pension subsidy by $1,017,900 to start to address the more than $80 million unfunded liability.
Nauser said in 2015, the city added an additional subsidy of $914,663. She said the pension shortfall is “from obligations promised to public safety personnel.”
Nauser said funding for six police officers has been added since 2013. A federal grant also allowed funding for five additional firefighters from 2013 to 2015. That grant was extended to keep funding three of those firefighters until 2016.
