VIENNA — The City of Vienna may once again to ask voters to approve a one-half of one percent public safety sales tax to support police activities in the city.

At the council’s regular monthly meeting, Nov. 9, Police Chief Shannon Thompson brought up the subject by saying he still has not had an applicant for the much-needed third officer. He said prospective employees hear the wages and are no longer interested in the job. He suggested the council take the public safety sales tax back to the voters as it was only defeated by 10 votes when the city asked for the sales tax two years ago. Thompson thinks city residents were not informed adequately about the sales tax to help pay for the city’s police department.

A one-cent sales tax generates $110,00 to $115,000 and a half-cent is estimated to bring in an additional $55,000 to $59,000 to support police activities.

This is money that could be used elsewhere in Vienna as the general revenue fund entirely supports the police department’s operating budget. The general revenue fund also funds most of the city’s administrative costs and services, including the park maintenance, street lighting, maintenance to city buildings as well as monthly heating and electric bills.

Mayor Tyler “TC” James said it would help the city’s budgets if that $50,000 was not spent on the police department. “It might be spent at the park, or a new concession stand we’ve been wanting to do,” he said, adding it would help the police department, too.

Thompson said Vienna PD needs another car and that without the sales tax to pay for it, “It would be a sock to general revenue.” Other looming expenses include updates to the program he uses for state reports, equipment needing upgrades, and more training opportunities. 

South Ward Alderwoman Brenda Davis said to her a sales tax is a preferred way to increase revenue for the city because it is paid by all the people who do business in Vienna, not just Vienna residents. Chief Thompson agreed saying it “doesn’t lay all of the burden on city residents.”

Mayor James said he’s all for it but thinks they should get a plan together about how to use the money in order to show city voters. He said they need to talk about it and plan what the future of the police department looks like.

Thompson said it is frustrating trying to find police officers to work for the city because the pay is low and Vienna has to compete with the sheriff’s office for prospective law officers. At this point, he told the council he needs time off. Full time officer Tina Crawford also has to work all the time as they try to achieve coverage/on-call seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

Mayor James said the 24/7 approach may not be possible with two people. Chief Thompson wanted two full time officers as well as himself to achieve the 24/7. He said the sheriff’s office is short-handed, too.

He talked about hiring three part time officers, but part time employees are hard to hang on to as they have other jobs or leave for another job, and they are hard to manage on a schedule because of it. In the past year, part time officers were used for about 1,200 hours of patrol coverage annually. During that time, three part time officers left to take other jobs, creating a large gap in police coverage. The police chief said the city needs to pay police officers more.

The city received a US Department of Justice (DOJ) grant totaling over $92,000 over a three-year period to aid in hiring a full time police officer. However, a stipulation with the grant is that on the fourth year, the city must take on the full expense of the officer and their benefits.

Mayor James said to get full time officers they need to pay more. He noted that with the minimum wage taking larger jumps each year, wages need to go up and if they don’t the city will be losing ground. Chief Thompson said he hopes the new businesses in Vienna will bring about an increase in sales tax revenue. South Ward Alderman Jesse Jones said they can’t afford to hire another full time police officer until the sales tax passes. Mayor James agreed, saying with the grant they can do it but have to pay that fourth year, but after that, maybe not.

“We are the training ground for the county,” Chief Thompson said. It’s not a guarantee, but maybe the city can make it more attractive to work for Vienna with a higher salary. He’d like to see the police officer starting salary at least at $33,500. Thompson has estimated a third full time police officer will provide about 2,080 hours of additional police services annually for the city.

Mayor James said they need to discuss this so voters know what they are voting for. Thompson said they can wait six months to see if Vienna voters will approve the public safety sales tax before he can put on a new officer. He suggested approaching the voters with the sales tax at the April 2021 Municipal Election. If it doesn’t pass then, the city has three years with the DOJ grant. The three years are counted in the number of months an officer works so if someone quits after eight months, they still have four months of that year left when another officer is hired. “We get thirty-six months regardless of how long it takes,” Thompson said.

All of the council members agreed that wanted to run the public safety sales tax in April.

Davis said she feels strongly about the city meeting the needs of the police department. She thinks every officer should have a body camera. They need this to prove what officers say is true. The department also needs good vehicles as this will save money on repairs and maintenance. Also, they need the best safety equipment and not use inadequate safety devices because the city doesn’t have money to buy better devices. “Your lives are on the line when you are out there,” she said. “I support making sure the money is there for the police department.”

Thompson said at this point both he and Crawford can’t take a day off or even vacation time. Davis said they have to reevaluate how much coverage the city has and have to be able to justify why they need a third police officer. Mayor James said they might not be able to afford 24/7 coverage. Davis said they need a third officer but its hard to get them to stay. She said as Vienna residents they pay city taxes and they also pay county taxes. The sheriff’s office ought to be able to cover for the city when an officer is not available. Davis said they probably need to sit down with all the parties and discuss this.

Thompson said if city voters pass the sales tax, “We can depend on ourselves. It’s doable.”

Davis said people need to understand that if they want a police officer there in ten minutes when they call for help, the council needs city voters to approve this half-cent sales tax.

Mayor James told Thompson what he and Crawford are doing now with attempting full time coverage is not sustainable.

“If they pass the tax it will be sustainable,” Thompson said. The mayor replied saying they need to think about how to move forward if it does not pass.