Palmer 2013 Police Budget Detailed

Palmer Township's 2013 municipal budget stands at $9,163,815 for its general fund.

Expenses for the police department make up more than half of that.

When it detailed its municipal budget toward the end of last year, the Palmer Township Board of Supervisors detailed all individual departmental budgets, including the police department. The municipal budget was approved in late December.

Palmer's police budget stands at $4,817,426, Township Manager Christopher Christman stated.

One reason it isn't higher is that overtime expenses were slashed from $505,000 in 2011 to $400,000 for 2012 to $230,000 for this year.

"That's a significant reduction," Supervisors Chairman Dave Colver said. "We're headed in the right direction there."

While that line item declined, pension costs are up, going from $409,000 in 2012 to $463,000 in 2013.

Police Chief Larry Palmer said the budget includes "some large ticket items that are one-time deals."

They include: a narcotics digital scale, defensive tactics training, Hepatitis vaccines for officers and costs for memberships, training and conferences.

"There's been a lull in training if you will," Palmer said. "We're going to pick it up to where it needs to be."

Palmer said $102,000 is being spent for an evidence storage system.

The chief said that most capital projects were eliminated from the budget this year, including dropping a request for three new vehicles.