Othello Police Chief says drug detective is a high priority

With little wiggle room in the $5 million budget projected for 2018, the City of Othello has committed to hiring a drug detective with what’s left of the remaining $133,000.

“A drug detective is my absolute highest priority,” Police Chief Phil Schenck told members of the city council during their regular meeting Monday. “We busted heroin and meth dealers nearly every night last week.”

The projected $98,000 annual cost for the detective leaves little in the coffers for anything else the city wanted like a new heating and cooling system for city hall and new equipment for the Parks and Recreation Department.

Those items, however, were either moved to other funds or paid for by borrowing from other city funds, such as the Sewer Fund, which contains about $7.5 million.

Other items, which included a new car for the police chief with a hefty $56,000 price tag, were simply delayed for a later date.

“There’s a lot wrong with my car, but not $56,000 worth,” Schenck said.

However, Schenck also told council members it was important to set aside money as part of a regular replacement program for police vehicles, communications equipment, and even firearms, all of which wear out eventually.

“We had three handgun failures on the range,” Schenck said. “We’ve not seen rifle failures because we don’t shoot them as much. We had the armorers go through and replace parts.”

The city is borrowing $17,000 from other funds for new weapons for the police, and has budgeted $112,000 elsewhere for two new patrol cars.

The city is also looking to spend $46,000 to hire a new building inspector. When combined with the drug detective, that’s a commitment of $144,000 every year — $11,000 more than the city has unless it dips into the $400,000 council members want set aside as a reserve fund.

“These are continuous expenses,” said council member John Lallas. “If we take on a drug detective and a building inspector, which I really want, then it becomes harder to spend money on new vehicles every year.”

What Othello needed, Lallas said, was more revenue, something efforts to bring more homes and businesses — and more tax payments — to Othello are aiming at.

“Doing what we’re doing will probably bring that, but it will take time,” Lallas said.

The council will continue to discuss the budget at its next meeting on Monday, Nov. 27 at 6:30 p.m. The budget must be passed by midnight, Dec. 31.