Houlton police pitch bigger budget to council

HOULTON – Now that the town’s police department is fully staffed, officials said Thursday evening they hope to provide more training to officers and restore a public relations program that was not funded last year.

Those were just some of the requests Houlton police Chief Dan Soucy made when he presented the department’s fiscal year 2006 budget to the board of budget review. The panel will review the forecast and forward recommendations to the Town Council.

The council gives final approval to the municipal budget.

Panelists did not make changes to the figures submitted by the police chief Thursday evening.

The department’s expenditures are projected to increase next year as a result of a number of factors, including rising costs of fuel and equipment, wage increases, and an increase in the number of people on the payroll.

Soucy discussed some changes he hopes to see next year, such as an increase in the number of hours the department’s custodian works.

The chief explained that the additional hours would allow the custodian to perform additional maintenance on the police cruisers so that his officers “can get out on the street a bit more.”

Board members also were reintroduced to a public relations program the chief hopes to implement next year.

The departmental budget includes a $1,500 line item to purchase commemorative coins to give to residents who assist officers.

Soucy first proposed the idea last year as a way to recognize residents and “help foster morale between the police and the public.” The budget committee did not support the initiative, however, and the request was struck down.

Town Manager Douglas Hazlett acknowledged that the police budget had increased, but said the hike was justifiable.

“I think that this is a department that we really do need to invest in,” he said at the meeting. “We have been so lax in being able to train in the past few years. … Yes, the budget is up, but it is up for the right reasons.”