Board of Aldermen 06-11-2019 Page 13
MOTION BY ALDERMAN CLEMONS TO AMEND THE BUDGET AND ADD $113,000.00 TO THE
BOTTOM LINE OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT BUDGET AND $100,000.00 TO THE BOTTOM LINE
OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT
ON THE QUESTION
Alderman Clemons
Thank you. So the reason that | am proposing this is that because during the Budget Committee, we had
the Police Chief, so I’ll address the Police Department first, that section of my motion first. We had the
Police Chief come and tell us that basically they weren’t going to be able to make payroll unless they had
that $113,000.00 in the budget or at least they wouldn’t be able to hire or do the hiring that really a City
that is growing the way that we are, should be hiring. So | am proposing that we put that money back into
the budget for that reason.
Also at the Budget Committee, the Fire Chief brought up to us the fact that there is a problem where
businesses are being, there is lengthy waits to get inspections done, permits processed, because we need
a new Fire Inspector. That was a position that had been cut years ago and was something they wanted to
add on to their budget. They actually wanted to add two. Now | understand the fact that of course they
can live within the budget that we give them. Any Department would be able to live within the budget that
we gave them because that is their obligation. However, we should take into account the fact that, and
this is something that Nashua hasn’t experienced in a long time, is the fact that the City is actually, the
population of the City is growing. So between 1995 and 2015, the population in Nashua was stagnant. So
the fact that we were under the spending cap and all that, was really how we were able to maintain these
services is the fact that the City really never grew in population size. So you could have a Police Force
that was the same size as it was back in 1995 in 2015. You could have a Fire Department that was the
same size as it was in 1995 in 2015.
Now the City is growing; we are almost at 90,000 people. We are going to continue to grow. So we need
to make the investments and we need to say “What are the things that we need to do as a City to help our
Departments manage that growth”. One of the things that we can do is certainly not shortchange the
Police Department and make sure they are able to hire more Police Officers. So | think by adding that
$113,000.00 we achieve that. Secondly, the Fire Department, particularly the Inspector Position, we are a
growing City. So the fact that the population is growing means that there are more permits, there are
more things to inspect, there are more businesses that are going to be moving in to the City. That means
we have to keep up with the pace of that and put back in to the budget the Inspector. So | believe along
with the amendment that we just passed, if we were to add what | am proposing here, in total over what
the Mayor proposed, we would be talking a total of a $9.00 increase. So $3.00 from the proposal from
Alderman Kelly and $6.00 from this proposal. That’s $3.00 for the Police; that’s $3.00 for the Fire
Department and that’s $3.00 for the School Department on the average $300,000.00 home. | don’t think
that is too much to ask our citizens either for a budget that the Police are going to be able to increase
their presence in the City; to accommodate our growing population.
| think that is something that our citizens would want for an extra $3.00 on their taxes and having an extra
Fire Inspector | think is something that our business community would want, particularly because we are
having slowdowns in that area of getting these permits issued and that has been going on for a very long
time. It is an issue we can solve for again, $3.00 over what the Mayor has proposed. So | think, overall,
are we going over 3% with these proposals, yes, absolutely. But what are we getting out of it? Well we
are getting fully complemented Police Department and we are getting a Fire Department that is better
suited to meet the needs of a growing City. Now we can say “we will put this off to next year; maybe we
will do this next year”. But you know one of the things that my friends over in the Fire Department say
year after year, they are always told it’s not a good year. They have been told that for 14 years. Well
when is it a good year, because you know in 2006 it wasn’t a good year, then the economy tanked in 2008
and 2009 and that wasn’t a good year.
