Free Money

One of the quirks of government accounting (okay, maybe I should say one of the many) is capital items are not considered part of the "operating budget."

If a homeowner buys a semi-commercial sit down lawnmower or needs to repave the driveway, that money simply comes out of their household budget.  And when those capital costs reach a certain point maybe the family does not take a vacation that year

But in municipal accounting capital items are appropriated out of a separate pot, although still taxpayer money of course.  Thus public sector managers can then talk about their operating budget breaking even when in fact the overall business costs taxpayers an arm and a leg via expensive machines purchased as capital items.

Take the Cherry Hill Golf Course for instance.  Please.

This coming Fiscal Year (FY16 starts July 1st) Cherry Hill will require yet another expensive lawnmower ($33,000) paid for over three years at $11,000 per year.

And FY16 will also be the last year of a three year payment for a greens mower that cost $37,500 paid for over three years at $12,500 per year.

In other words that total capital of $23,500 is sort of free money not tallied against their $245,937 Operating Budget.  As are Employee Benefits costs of $40,488.

Thus the average homeowner would put the cost of golf at $309,925 next year, but town officials will only talk about the much lower number, even going so far as to suggest the golf course is a break even endeavor.

And next year that expensive capital item (Parking Lot Resurfacing @ $90,000) they have kept putting off for years now will be a major budget buster. 

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5 year plan from two years ago Parking Lot repave originally shows up for FY14

Parking lot repave pushed off again until next year (+ extra $5,000)

Off Campus Bouncer

UMass/Amherst:  peaceful from above

The best bar bouncer never actually gets physical with a rowdy patron disturbing the peace and tranquility of your friendly neighborhood liquor establishment.  After all, he/she is probably a good customer.  You simply get the problem maker off the scene with as little trouble as possible.

And so it is with the UMass Off Campus Resident Assistant, a combination of bar bouncer, dance chaperon, and Superman (or Superwoman as the case may be).

Patterned on the successful program at Boston College, the off campus RA will patrol the problem areas  adjacent to UMass -- Phillips & Fearing Streets, Sunset Avenue, North Pleasant & Meadow Streets, Hobart Lane -- at problem times looking to mitigate rowdy behavior before it becomes an issue for police.

Unlike "peer group" initiatives Walk This Way and Team Positive, the off campus RA will be an older, more authoritarian figure who can officially address bad behavior.  But the goal will be to use the power of persuasion to get students to stand down.

According to Nancy Buffone, UMass Director of External Relations, "We are moving the search along in a timely fashion so that we can hire someone as soon as possible."

Which is of course bureau speak for "No, they will not be operational this coming spring and certainly not for the March 7 Blarney Blowout."

UMass employment ad for "Neighborhood Liaison"

Town prepares for Blarney Blowout

I made Fade.  I'm somebody now! (Just don't tell the family)

Weapons, Drugs & Resistance

Terrence Ware stands before Judge Charles Groce

What started out as a domestic disturbance called in by a 3rd party ended up badly for Terrence Ware Jr, although domestic abuse was not among the charges he was arraigned on yesterday in Eastern Hampshire District Court.

But because he resisted arrest (while in possession of pot and a pipe) he ended up arrested anyway. And considering he was in possession of a doubled edged knife, illegal in Massachusetts since 1972, he could also have been charged with illegal possession of a dangerous weapon.

His case was continued until March 3rd.

   Terremce Ware

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For those of you who are not convinced heroin is a problem, even in the innocent little college town of Amherst, take note:

This document could just as easily be a medical examiner's Death Certificate rather than a police Statement of Facts.

When you find someone passed out with two needles near his outstretched arm ... well, does Philip Seymour Hoffman ring a bell?

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Patrick Blanke, age 29, failed to show up for his original arrignment back in late June thereby triggering a warrant for his arrest, which caught up to him on Monday.

In District Court yesterday he pled guilty to the original charges and he was sentenced by Judge Groce to six months in jail.

A Dash Of Derring-Do

Dash and officer TJ Clark giving commands in Dutch

Criminals better take note:  now you can't escape by running or hiding because Dash, the newest member of Amherst Police Department can -- with his four legs -- outrun you, or with his ultra sensitive nose will sniff you out from whatever hole you choose to hide.

The 17-month-old pure bred German Shepard came to the department via a grant from the Stanton Foundation.  Officer Clark was chosen out of six APD applicants and he traveled to Pennsylvania where he chose Dash out of six available dogs.

And because he was imported from the Netherlands Dash only speaks, err, I mean, understands Dutch, which officer Clark had to learn in part.  That way in the field, Dash will not respond to someone speaking English, Spanish or Chinese. 

 Chief Livingstone (right) has been wanting a K9 program for many years  and is already talking about a second dog

They have been training together in various locations outside of Amherst since September and Chief Livingstone expects him to hit the streets in the next couple of weeks.

In time for -- dare I say it -- the March 7 Blarney Blowout.

Officer Clark rewards Dash with his toy, not food

Improving On Success

APD Chief  Scott Livingstone addresses Rental Bylaw Implementation Group

The Rental Permit Bylaw has become perhaps the most successful local government health safety initiative of the past generation, protecting tenants from (the few) shoddy landlords while motivating them to keep tenants behavior in check or risk losing their permit.

Now, only one year after start up, the certification program boasts 100% compliance of all 1,261 rental properties in Amherst, a college town with a high percentage of rentals and the lowest median age in the state.

Amherst Police Chief Scott Livingstone paid a visit this afternoon to the Rental Bylaw Implementation Group to discuss ways to improve on the already resounding success of the program, specifically by allowing easier access to police records of that neighborhood bane, noise/nuisance issues.

The Chief told the committee that noise/nuisance complaints are not the highest priority for police response, so on a busy weekend when the weather is nice the call response can be delayed by an hour or more.  By the time police arrive the party or noise is sometimes over.

Currently the system  tracks noise/nuisance complaints if a formal ticket or warning is issued to a property.  But committee member Maurianne Adams wishes to see the system capture complaints made against a residence whereby no formal action was taken by officers, perhaps due to a delayed response.

Chief Livingstone confirmed the rowdy behavior that has disrupted neighborhoods for too many years, has improved significantly:  In 2012 APD had 1,064 calls for service relating to bad behavior and only two years later, in 2014, those calls decreased over 40% to 617.

The Chief attributed this dramatic reduction to outreach work done by his officers -- following up noise complaints the next morning for instance -- extensive publicity shining a light on bad behavior, neighbors taking it on themselves to try to resolve issues, and "peer group" initiatives undertaken by UMass and the Student Government Association (Walk This Way and Team Positive for instance).

One problem with increasing transparency of police calls via the town website is APD's computer system does not get along well with the town system used by Building Commissioner Rob Morra.

But Chief Livingstone liked the idea of sharing this information and planned to take it up with his senior staff and Information Technology person later this month. 

Uncle Amherst Wants You!

Although our $70+ million operation budget is in the multi-national corporation range, the  town of Amherst relies heavily on volunteer labor to staff a myriad of boards and committees.

Rather than complain about the way things are, get involved. Make a difference.

   Amherst Town Committees.

The Cost Of Quiet

One of the downsides of the tide turning towards civility in the war on rowdyism -- albeit a minor one -- is the town treasury is taking a hit with those $300 noise/nuisance tickets not being issued.

Last year at this time (halfway through the budget) Amherst collected $111,793 in town bylaw fines while this year it's down 37% to $69,806.

Of course neighbors who value their sleep or the look of their yards on weekend mornings are not going to mind a bit -- especially since it's a pubic safety issue.

The Public Safety aspect (police, fire, dispatch, animal welfare) of town government is the largest segment of the town's operating budget (46%), but the lion's share is split almost evenly between Amherst Police Department at $4,767,221 proposed for FY16, and $4,466,729 for Amherst Fire Department.

So the $200,000 or so in annual fines collected is a drop in the bucket compared to APD's overall budget.  The Town Manager in his proposed FY16 budget is, finally, adding two police officers to bolster their enemic ranks.

Amherst Fire Department, on the other hand, will not see any additional staffing even though their calls have been rising annually at a rate greater than inflation.

Interestingly 75% of AFD runs are for Emergency Medical Services, as all personnel are crossed trained to either run into burning buildings or stabilize and transport sick/injured patients.

Unlike fire calls, the department does collect fees for ambulance services which is the vast majority of what they do.  The last few years that has amounted to over $2 million dollars annually, enough to fund half their overall budget (although Town Meeting, NOT AFD, controls how that money is spent).

The town has 5 ambulances but usually cannot staff them all

Two years ago in his FY14 budget the Town Manager predicted $2,195,723 in Ambulance Fund revenues, but due to a typically all-too-busy year the fund took in $2,533,728, or $338,000 in excess revenues.

None of which was spent to hire additional staff.