Ten police officers.
Ten firefighters.
Folks, those are the harsh facts.
It was announced late Tuesday afternoon by the City of Neosho that both the Neosho Police Department and Neosho Fire Department would be reducing their forces in light of having to reduce their fiscal year 2011 budgets by $400,000.
The budget cuts were ordered after the voting public of Neosho voiced their opinion at the ballot box and turned down a property tax at the polls that would have allowed the city to take in nearly $1.2 in revenue and keep city services at fiscal year 2010 levels. No matter which side you stand on this issue, we can all agree it was democracy in action.
Now, the cuts to city emergency services that were discussed during countless public meetings on the property tax as “worst-case scenarios” are real.
In the NFD, one retirement will be effective on Sept. 30, 2010, along with seven layoffs effective Tuesday, and two more layoffs effective Aug. 24.
Besides the loss of 10 firefighters, the public will also be affected by the temporary closing of Fire Station 2 when staff is reduced to four firemen or less. Fire Station 2 is located in the Neosho Industrial Park.
Also, emergency medical calls will stop with the exception of requests for assistance from the Newton County Ambulance District.
The 10 officers who lost their jobs in order to balance the budget at the NPD means personnel has been reduced from 26 officers to 14. Previously this year, three additional officers’ positions had already been eliminated. This will be mean a maximum of three officers, including a supervisor, patrolling the streets at any given time. The NPD will also have no investigators on duty, and all follow-up investigations will be conducted by the patrol officers on duty.
What has been outlined by the police chief and fire chief of Neosho boils down to the fact that we will have basic emergency service protection in a city of approximately 11,000 residents. And our hearts go out to all the fine police officers and firefighters who find themselves out of work. If you are able to help any of those affected, we urge you to do so.
They were the unfortunate victims of a very, very unfortunate situation.
DAILY NEWS
