WINDSOR
Windsor’s Town Council voted unanimously on Nov. 13 to approve a budget transfer plan put forward by Town Manager Michael Stallings to fund the new full-time police officer position the council approved in October.

Last month, Windsor Police Chief R.D. “Dan” Riddle estimated that the department would need to offer an annual salary of approximately $42,000. When factoring in the possibility that the officer would choose the town’s full family health coverage plan, the overall annual cost to the town for the position could rise to $61,500.60.

Since the officer would likely start no sooner than Jan. 1, 2019, Stallings anticipates that the cost to fund the position for the remainder of fiscal year 2018-2019 would be roughly half that of the annual cost, or approximately $39,750.30. Chief Riddle had previously indicated to the town manager and council that his department could reallocate a total of $7,000 to fund the position. This would come from $3,000 that had previously been allocated to overtime pay and $4,000 that had previously been allocated for vehicle fuel and tires.

The remaining $23,750.30 needed to fund the position through the end of the fiscal year, Stallings said, will come from $25,000 in bank franchise taxes from Old Point National Bank. The Town Council had not anticipated receiving this revenue at the time it passed its 2018-2019 budget because the bank, then known as Citizens National Bank, was in the process of being sold to Old Point.

As for fiscal year 2019-2020, at which point the town would be responsible for funding the entire $61,500.60, Stallings said that the reallocation of the $7,000 within the Police Department, plus the $25,000 in bank franchise taxes from Old Point, could continue to fund the position, leaving $29,500.60 for the remainder of the fiscal year. Approximately $24,000 of this, he said, will come from savings the town is anticipating in its upcoming budget from only needing to purchase two new police cars instead of three. Stallings plans to continue to evaluate revenues and expenditures to identify a source to fill the remaining funding gap of $5,500.60.