Barry Wolborsky | Fountain Hills
I have lived many places and Fountain Hills is the safest. The command staff and deputies here are totally first rate and I thank them for making Fountain Hills so safe. This letter is not directed at them.
On Oct. 31, the Times Independent published an article on the MCSO contract. They quoted Larry Meyers as saying over the last three years the contract with MCSO increased 100%. The Times correctly stated 100% was incorrect, but failed to mention the 50% increase. What increased 50% in the last three years? Not the deputies’ salaries. Not gasoline. The standard mileage rate in 2019 was $0.580 per mile and currently is $0.652. That’s only 12%. So, the 50% increase remains a mystery.
Per the article, understaffing on the previous contract was estimated between $1 and $3 million dollars but we only received a settlement for $722,000 for that issue.
The article also says the town gets credits for staffing vacancies longer than 60 days. This is very incorrect. The contract states the town will get credit for positions unfilled for two consecutive months. My statistics brain tells me that if MCSO has full staff one day out of 60 to 62 days, they owe nothing.
The contract has $900,000 for overtime pay. My police friends tell me overtime pay is usually for staffing at major crime scenes, calls at end of shift going long or staffing positions that are unfilled. Fountain Hills has almost no major crime scenes; running 15 minutes over on a call happens occasionally but does not account for almost 35% of the payroll ($2,623,286). Common sense indicates almost all of the overtime pays for staffing shortages.
Looks like we pay for absent deputies and then pay overtime to fill in for them.
Is this a good contract for us?
