ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) – Alexandria City Council held a special committee meeting to review the operating and capital budget for fiscal year 2021-2022.
One of the key changes the council wanted to add to the budget is to find more ways to allocate money to the Alexandria Police Department to hire more officers and increase the number of employees currently employed there.
Last month, the council approved a wage study to begin, for the first time in 13 years, to compare wages with surrounding areas and see how many civil servants are left for other departments. The current starting salary for APD is $ 34,000.
District Fourth Councilor Catherine Davidson said repeatedly during the meeting that if more money is not made available to fill the current 41 positions at APD, it will ultimately harm the city.
“I think we need about $ 1.1 million to $ 1.2 million plus the pension deficit, which brings us to $ 200,000 for us to have sustainable funding. I found other areas listed in the budget that we can pull the funds out of and use for increases, ”said Davidson.
The council will hold another meeting of the special committee on April 13th to try to finalize the budget. The budget must be completed and approved by April 27, otherwise it will revert to the current budget.
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