NAVASSA — Last week, Navassa Town Council changed two policies for its four-person police department in an effort to conserve spending.
According to the town, the policy changes were unrelated to the ongoing national conversation surrounding defunding police departments and instead are tied to the small town’s attempt to cut back on spending while anticipating Covid-19 revenue shortfalls.
“Like other municipalities doing the same thing, because we’re so small, we’re preparing ourselves for any potential loss in tax revenue,” Claudia Bray, Navassa’s Town Administrator, said Thursday.
Take home, idling policy
Navassa Town Council voted 4-1 June 30, with Councilwoman Minnie Brown dissenting, to discontinue police officer’s ability to drive patrol cars to and from home.
“We know it may be cumbersome for our police officers, but in trying to reduce the cost of fuel and car repairs, we asked them not to take their vehicles home,” Bray said.
Because the town pays for all gas in the patrol cars, the costs were adding up, especially for at least two officers who live well outside town limits in Southport and Roseboro.
“In my opinion, versus the national conversation on what’s going on with police departments, this was kind of in-house clean-up that we needed to do,” Mayor Eulis Willis said Thursday.
Council also voted to enact a new idling policy, which prohibits officers from remaining parked with the car running for extended periods of time. Willis said technology installed in the vehicles showed town officials that officers were spending excessive time idling.
“Tech kind of showed up we were being very inefficient with our cars,” Willis said.
The policy changes follow the town’s new budget, adopted June 18, which included a 15% overall spending cut. No major department or fund was targeted, Bray said. Instead, it was a matter of looking at all areas where spending could be reined in, Bray explained.
“Traveling, training, office supplies — it’s across the board. A lot of different things that we could cut. The critical things we try to hold onto,” she said.
The anticipated dip in sales tax revenue due to Covid-19 spending behavior changes is expected to hit municipalities harder than counties. Bray added that the town is also cognizant of the possibility that its property tax collection rate could dip given the financial burdens many are facing during the pandemic.
“We’re just trying to brace ourselves for the potential shortfall from the virus,” she said.
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