POLICE CHIEF SAYS BUDGET REQUEST CONTAINS NO FRILLS

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- There are no frills in the Cape Girardeau Police Department budget request for 1991-'92, said Police Chief Howard Boyd Jr.

The budget does request a new roof, insulation, waterproofing, and a new communications console at the police station. "These are the big ones that are going to take the most money," said Boyd. "Other than that, it's the same old guns and bullets and paper clips; it's rather a routine budget year."

The city's fiscal year begins July 1. The department's budget request, submitted to City Hall in late December, is for about $3.6 million. That's about $122,600 over its projected budget figure for fiscal 1990-'91, and more than $331,300 above the fiscal year budget of 1989-'90.

Boyd said the department is asking for a dispatcher and a police officer. "I think we can justify an extra dispatcher for sure," he said.

A new communications console, at a cost of $90,000, is needed because the existing one causes problems, the budget request says. Part of the problem deals with wires, buttons and equipment that are brittle and easily breakable, it says.

The insulation would be installed with the new roof, Boyd said, explaining the building has no roof insulation. Boyd said the building has not had a new roof since it was built 15 years ago and there are some minor leaks. "We're trying to get it before it gets out of hand," he said.

The insulation and other energy-saving measures would be funded by an approximate $11,000 loan from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources' Division of Energy. The loan, Boyd said, would be recouped through reduced utility costs.

Also included in the energy-saving measures would be installation of two programmable thermostats and substitution of sodium lamps for incandescent lights now on the parking lot. Sodium lamps not only use less energy, Boyd said, but provide more light.

More than 80 percent of the department's total budget is spent on salaries and fringe benefits, said Boyd. Another big chunk, as always, will go toward utilities, he said.

The department's purchase of police cars has slowed down within the last few years, said Boyd. Up until about three or four years ago, the department bought six vehicles a year; now it buys about four, he said. The budget request points out a need to replace four police cars, two motorcycles, and a traffic division van.

Boyd pointed out the city gets a large portion of its money from sales-tax revenue.

City officials Monday announced the general fund would have a shortfall of more than $282,000 this fiscal year, primarily because the city's general sales tax showed no growth during the first three quarters. Officials said that likely will force pay freezes next year for city employees.

Boyd said the nation's recessive economy has not had a detrimental effect on department spending.