The Burlington City Council on Monday unanimously endorsed a proposal to give police officers a $10,000 bonus to keep them from leaving the city’s dwindling force.
Acting Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad pitched the plan, which would also create a $15,000 sign-on bonus for new recruits who stay with the force for at least 22 months. It will be funded with federal Covid-19 aid the city received through the American Rescue Plan Act.
Murad had initially sought to use $1.27 million of the city’s $27 million worth of ARPA funds to extend $16,000 bonuses to officers. Councilors whittled down the plan, which is now expected to cost the city $850,000 total.
The council also rejected a plan in a 6-6 vote to give the city full control over trash, compost and recycling management in residences with up to four units — a system strongly opposed by private waste management companies in Burlington.
Incentives for police as force numbers drop
Over the past 15 months, the number of Burlington Police Department employees has declined from 91 to 70 — in part due to the council’s decision in summer 2020 to cut staff by 30% through attrition.
The council has since considered reversing itself, most recently at its Aug. 9 meeting, but has opted against doing so. At that meeting, the body did pass a resolution adding two community service liaison positions to the police department — and requested that Murad and Mayor Miro Weinberger propose an officer recruitment and retention plan.
Murad originally proposed each officer receive $16,000 in three payments spread over three years. Councilors agreed to the first two payments but nixed the third.
The council adopted Murad’s proposal to provide $15,000 recruitment bonuses to all new officers in three installments during their first two years on the job — at an estimated cost of $150,000.
Murad pointed to several challenges the department faces as it seeks to rebuild. It can take more than a year to hire and train a new officer, he said. Meanwhile, he added, neighboring cities and towns are “offering increasingly attractive compensation packages, and Burlington needs to compete.” South Burlington offers $7,000 sign-on bonuses to fully certified officers, while Berlin offers $4,000 for senior officers and St. Albans $10,000.
“We are losing officers rapidly at a rate that, frankly, does begin to compromise what we can do,” Murad said. “We already cannot provide the services that we have in the past.”
The proposal passed with little pushback or discussion from city councilors.
Councilor Zoraya Hightower, P-Ward 1, pressed Murad on why he and the mayor were so focused on the officer count instead of pitching ideas for alternatives to traditional policing methods. Murad and Weinberger pointed to the community service officer and liaison positions that were recently added to the department. Weinberger said the city was also getting closer to building out a mental health response call model.
“I think people are frustrated with us because we’re too busy playing politics to solve anything,” Hightower said. “I think that it’s frustrating that we’re talking about a cap again, about sworn officers, when there’s so many other public health issues that we should be bringing forward to the council.”
In response, Weinberger reminded Hightower that his administration had brought the retention plan to the council because the body had requested it.
“Clearly, no one is suggesting by the focus on this tonight that we do not have a bunch of work to do and pursue in other areas,” Weinberger said. He urged councilors to pass the plan proposed by Murad in “broad consensus.”
Councilor Jack Hanson, P-East District, echoed Hightower’s concerns that the mayor and chief were focused more on the police cap than police reforms. He added that the body recognized that alternatives to traditional policing were not yet in place and that, in the meantime, officers needed support.
“Officers can be part of this transition and should come to Burlington if they want to be on the cutting edge of building out a new system,” Hanson said. “And same thing with existing officers that want to stay and want to serve the community.”
A win for private waste haulers
The council was evenly split Monday night on whether a consolidated, city-run waste system would improve efficiency and benefit workers or overwhelm the Department of Public Works and take away choice from Burlington’s consumers.
In the end, a resolution that would have moved Burlington toward a city-operated consolidated waste system did not move forward. The proposal before councilors would have specifically endorsed a totally city-controlled system. City officials had also considered a hybrid model in recent months, endorsed by the Department of Public Works Commission, that would have allowed the city to manage private haulers in a bid system.
At Monday’s meeting, Hightower moved to divide the resolution in half, allowing councilors to vote separately on two questions: whether they supported a consolidated waste system generally and whether they supported a fully city-operated consolidated waste model. Both questions failed in 6-6 votes.
In each vote, Councilors Hightower; Hanson; Perri Freeman, P-Central District; Max Tracy, P-Ward 2; Joe Magee, P-Ward 3; and Jane Stromberg, P-Ward 8, voted in support. Councilors Joan Shannon, D-South District; Ali Dieng, I-Ward 7; Chip Mason, D-Ward 5; Sarah Carpenter, D-Ward 4; Mark Barlow, D-North District; and Karen Paul, D-Ward 6 voted against.
Stromberg argued a consolidated trash system for the city would cut down on carbon emissions by making truck routes more efficient. She said the move would also benefit workers who would be making higher salaries in unionized, city jobs.
“The city already runs a citywide recycling program, electric program and public water,” Stromberg said. “This really proves and shows to me that we’re capable of running this type of system.”
Barlow questioned whether the city would be able to afford taking on a consolidated waste system. He said he thought the city could improve waste services without absorbing the industry into city business. Burlington could mandate that licensed haulers use more efficient routes and restrict when waste can be hauled away, he said.
“There’s other ways to approach this,” Barlow said. “So I’m not supportive of this resolution tonight.”
Michael Casella, whose family owns Casella Waste Systems, told city councilors at public comment Monday night that waste haulers want to create solutions with the city to address some of the problems the current system might be experiencing.
“We’re not your enemies. We’re Vermonters who grew up here. We live here,” Casella said. “I know the challenges of the city. We want to be part of the solution with the city.”
It would have cost Burlington about $6 million to establish its own waste collection system, according to a study commissioned by the city.
Special election set
The City Council also passed a $40 million bond package to continue the city’s 10-year capital infrastructure plan. Voters can approve or shoot it down in a special election to be held Dec. 7.
The resolution passed in a 10-1-1 vote with Shannon voting against and Dieng absent.
Ten million dollars of the bond would be dedicated to reviving the downtown Memorial Auditorium, which has been closed since 2016 when it was ruled structurally unsound. The other $30 million is expected to be dedicated to deferred maintenance projects, IT infrastructure, and roadway infrastructure such as bridges, sidewalks and streets.
The council passed a $20 million bond package specifically for improvements in the Electric Department at its Sept. 13 meeting. That bond will also go before voters in the same special election.
According to the mayor’s office, a taxpayer with a median-priced home in the city of $379,100 can expect to see an annual $79.24 increase in their tax bill for fiscal year 2023 if the capital plan bond passes. That amount peaks in fiscal year 2025 at a $159.52 annual payment and gradually decreases until fiscal year 2031.
