The city and public school district can hire six to 12 additional school resource officers without any tax hike and without creating a joint public agency, says Lincoln Councilwoman Cyndi Lamm.
Lamm described her school resource officer proposal in a Tuesday morning news conference.
It is an alternative to the plan laid out by Lincoln Public Schools leaders and the administration of Mayor Chris Beutler that would create a JPA, a quasi-governmental group that would levy a 1-cent property tax and use that money for several school safety programs, including six new police officers to be assigned to LPS middle schools.
Lamm said she, too, has been working to find a way to hire additional school resource officers since the group Parents United For Greater School Safety began bringing its concerns to the school board and council.Ìý
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Lamm said she believes the safety of its citizens is the No. 1 priority of government and that elected leaders need to have proper stewardship of the tax dollars coming out of every pocket.
The city can hire additional police officers and add more school resource officers without putting any additional burden on the backs of taxpayers, using the $2 million to $3 million in additional tax dollars that will result from this year's revaluation of commercial property, Lamm said.
Commercial property values have risen an average of 17 percent through the revaluation process. Because of that value increase, the same property tax levy will bring in additional revenue.
“That is new money being generated by those assessments,†she said.
Using that new money, the city can and should provide increased safety to school children and peace of mind to their parents, without burdening taxpayers, Lamm said.
The mayor and school administration also say they will fund the school safety programs without raising the total property tax rate. The school district and city government would reduce their levy by 1 cent to offset the 1-cent rated levied by the newly formed JPA.
Beutler and LPS Superintendent Steve Joel also point out their $2 million plan funds more than school resource officers, including additional money for Community Learning Center after-school programs, a school social worker and additional counseling in schools.Ìý
Lamm countered that those programs can also be funded through current agreements, without creating a JPA.
“We don’t need another entity that lacks transparency, increases bureaucracy," she said.
School board member Matt Schulte, a candidate for Lancaster County treasurer, joined Lamm at the news conference to offer his support for hiring the new school resource officers without creating a JPA and without using taxes.
Schulte said the school board could use some of its $32 million in additional revenue to fund its share of the added cost.
The public schools will receive $20 million more in state aid and another $12 million from other sources next school year, he said.
“With these state-aid funds we can easily fund the resource officers that Lincoln desperately needs without raising any new taxes," he said.
“We don’t need a new line on our property tax bill to fund SROs. We don’t need a levy override to fund SROs,†he added.
Lamm pointed out the city and schools cut out four school resource officers who had been working at middle schools in 2010, when Beutler was mayor.Ìý
“It’s time to put those officers back,†Lamm said.
Public Safety Director Tom Casady has said that decision to remove SROs from middle schools was made during the Great Recession and reflected an understanding the officers were spread too thin by being assigned to multiple schools, and the city needed more officers on the street.
The city and school district can continue the current system of working together through agreements and building required funding into each of the two budgets, Lamm said.
The city and schools share the cost of the six school resource officers assigned to each of the LPS high schools, with the school district paying about 35 percent of the direct costs for each officer.Ìý
Reach the writer at 402-473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.Ìý
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