The Springfield Police Department will get 40 new squad cars, the fire department will get a new engine and the public works department will get a street sweeper.
Aldermen approved taking out a $3.15 million low interest loan to cover the purchases. Some on the city council asked: why now, given the city’s financial situation?
“When we have requests from aldermen to park cars as a deterrent for speeders, we won’t have those cars,” said Police Chief Kenny Winslow. “In addition to that, if we were to have a presidential visit and I would have to call everybody, all hands on deck, I don’t have the cars to put all hands on deck.”
Winslow noted that the department will “make it work” one way or another, but said at least 22 cars will be out of commission on Jan. 1 anyway as they’re now more expensive to maintain than they’re worth.
Payments for this loan, with an interest rate of 1.39%, won’t kick in until the next fiscal year. Annual payments will be about $475,000, which is less than an annual $650,000 loan payment that will be paid off this fiscal year.
In other business, the council unanimously approved an ordinance to keep flat not only aldermanic salaries, but also salaries of the mayor, city clerk and city treasurer until 2019. The initial proposal would have tied annual pay increases to the consumer price index (CPI), with hikes to be no greater than 3 percent but no less than 1 percent, even if that year’s CPI was negative.