Village Buzz - Village Budget Debate

Any proposal to disband the GTown Police Department and replace it with sheriff patrols wouldd be a horrible decision from both a budget and safety position.

Why mess with the one thing in this Village that is run effective and efficient? What do they want to do with the mythical savings? Add three floors to the Senior Center? Or add another 20 feet of air space to the Library? What they really should consider is to disband the Village Trustees, as they seem rather clueless most of the time.

Completely agree, Concerned.

It sure would be nice if the proposed village budget was published on their website like the school budget is. I was able to find something that looks like a budget for this year, and was a bit more than surprised to see that we pay nearly six million dollars a year in taxes for debt retirement. I believe the village once said that the debt structure is strung out for another 15 years, or more, too.

The school board is refinancing their debt, taking advantage of really low interest rates, and also managed to knock this years payment in almost half. I heard that they restructured the payoffs so that instead of eliminating all the school district debt in 3 years, its now going to be four, but at least they did something to soften the blow this year.

Why doesn't the village board do the same thing? or is this another one of those deals where if the president of the board doesn't like it, the rest of them are either too timid or too threatened to stand up to him.

The Village Police Department is a joke. There are too many per citizen as it is. If you don't think they are a joke, drive to the back of BRIO at 3AM and you will see one or two Germantown Squads "talking" for hours on end!! They must have amazing communication! These guys don't do their job and they should be disbanded as a result.

Please JAFO, the School Board is laughable at best.

Jafro... You,re a little behind times. Charlie and his yes men are no longer in office.

Common Sense. New to this bog...What is the ratio of officers per citizen in Germantown??? AND..How does it compare to other cities/towns/villages in the southeastern area of the state??? Just curious!

You can call them now and tell them that for $5-$6 per month you want your streets plowed, the grass cut and minimal maintenance done to the parks, or you can call them later when the snow packed streets are like plowed fields, the lights are burned out and the swings are broken in the parks. Remember Mequon Road when it was not plowed right away? How about that condition every snowfall that does not accumulate to more than an inch? Luckily we had a dry summer, because grass cutting was at below a minimum. Imagine what this village would have looked like with an average rainfall.

Some of the bargaining groups already agreed to lower wages and furloughs for this year - and layoffs still occurred. Why would they trust a board of trustees who have made no mention or offer to eliminate their own stipend or reduce their salaries? Why trust a board that tells the administrator to "show them the bloodbath" without offering anything in return? Plow drivers can only drive their trucks for so many hours without sleep. Cut their numbers and their hours and streets must go unplowed. Unplowed streets lead to accidents - which police and fire must respond to. Tie up the firefighters and officers and more must be called in to take calls for service - called in on overtime because we already know that our police department is at a staffing level below all comparably sized cities and villages.

Cut buildings and grounds budgets - refuse to budget for repairs and maintenance - but when the lights go out in a park -your trustee will vow to find out "who dropped the ball". I will tell you who dropped it - your irresponsible village board who will not tell you that their repeated 0% tax increases have cut the budget to such a low that there is no room or accommodation for repairs or emergencies or record snowfalls or average rain. They will look at borrowing $1 million for road repair - but will destroy those same roads or speed up their decline by not budgeting for the staff or materials needed to maintain them and extend their life.

Cut buildings and grounds budgets - refuse to budget for repairs and maintenance - but when the lights go out in a park -your trustee will vow to find out "who dropped the ball". I will tell you who dropped it - your irresponsible village board who will not tell you that their repeated 0% tax increases have cut the budget to such a low that there is no room or accommodation for repairs or emergencies or record snowfalls or average rain. They will look at borrowing $1 million for road repair - but will destroy those same roads or speed up their decline by not budgeting for the staff or materials needed to maintain them and extend their life.

Call your trustee and tell them that for an average of $42 per year you want to keep the village employees that you have - those who have already had furloughed days - and the services that you have come to expect from the departments that serve the residents. Don't let them keep their stipend and their pay while taking away pay and raises from the non-represented employees who have been their punching bags over the years. Call your trustee and tell them that you value your police department, fire department, public works, park and rec and highway departments. Let them know that these people do a good job at less pay compared to those employees in most other local communities. Call your trustee and tell them that they need to be responsible for their budgets and their decisions. Tell them that you want to see these "Committee of the Whole" meetings that are held with short notice and vague agendas televised so that you can see what is being said, suggested or insinuated. Call your trustee and tell them that you are holding them responsible for the level of services and condition of our roads and buildings and parks. Tell them that for $42 a year – they need to approve the budget that was presented to them and avoid the “bloodbath”. There is no way that the trustees are going to be able to make it “look pretty” at the cuts they are demanding.

GTOWN - FYI -
Metro = 2.5c:1kCITZ
Sub =~1.25c:1kCITZ

GTOWN =~40c: 20000CITZ = 2:1CITZ, well over the national average for suburban areas.

CommonSense......that is not accurate...
According to the PD website there are 31 sworn.
That amounts to 1.5 per thousand. In checking other sub. police dept. websites in the Milwaukee area, the majority are above the 1.5.

CommonSense, I have been amused by your comments for months and now have decided to make a comment of my own. You need to check your facts before posting. I am glad to see Gtown Reality did that for you. Also, BRIO moved out of the village over 2 years ago.

I would like to post some corrections on this blog so the public can make an informed decision on this topic.

GTOWN REALITY has presented the correct staffing levels at the Germantown Police Department. The Germantown Police Department has 1.5 officers per thousand population. The majority of suburban police departments are above this. Germantown Police has one of the lowest staffing levels in Washington County even though we share a common border with the City of Milwaukee and have a major US Highway running through the entire length of the village.

GTOWN REALITY has the correct information about GTPD staffing. Germantown only has 1.5 officers per thousand population, which is low compared to other suburban agencies. Germantown has one of the lowest staffing ratios in Washington County even though we share a border with the City of Milwaukee and have a major US Highway running through the entire village.

The comment was made that there are “too many officers per citizen as it is.” This is not true. I have personally been working at GTPD when we have not had enough officers to respond to routine calls for service because officers were tied up on other priority calls. Also, surrounding law enforcement agencies did not have additional personnel to help out GTPD because all of their officers were tied up too. Chief Hoell has an itemized listing of most, if not all times that this has occurred.

Finally, I would like to comment on the assertion that officers are hiding behind Brio during the early morning hours. Many of the late shift officers who work 10pm-6am are department firearms and defense instructors. The Chief allows these officers to meet up on the road to prepare lesson plans for routine training sessions. Without these routine training sessions, officers would not be properly trained, and could expose the village to potential lawsuits for procedural mistakes that might occur during a patrol shift. Finally, officers have been handling numerous critical incidents throughout the village recently, which generates a large amount of report writing. Officers are encouraged to do their reports and other miscellaneous paperwork in their squad cars during their free time. This increases their visibility to the public and allows them quicker responses to calls that come in, versus responding from report writing inside the police station. This also reduces overtime at the end of the shift in these tough economic times.

If you are interested in learning the truth about the Germantown Police Department, don’t rely on all the information you see posted on this blog. You can contact Crime Prevention Officer Ray Borden to attend our Citizens Police Academy to see how GTPD really operates. You can also contact Lt. Tom Schreihart, who coordinates our ride-along program. Or, if you have a question that needs to be answered right away, contact the on-duty shift commander to get the answers you need.

Its time for all people who care about there service to attend the meeting of the whole on monday the 19 of October, and listen to your elected officials put the village deeper in debt,.
6 years of no taxes has crepped up on the wounderful bunch of nomads that only care about being reelected, under there no tax increase.
Also check out the money wasted in this village by your trustees, mequon road industral park sign, flags flying, lights on , and the most wounderful thing is that both of the signs and mediem are irregated, how much did this cost along with the other two, one on Washington and Donges Bay, and HWY 145 and Donges bay, how about 300.000 DOLLARS.
400.000, wasted on blackstone creek, witch went bankrupt, and you will never see this money again, 350.000, on sidewalks, A village president that was guilty in the court of law and your trustees should have gotten rid of, but instead supported him.
We need people in these trustee offices that have some brains in the old elevator

Its time for all people who care about there service to attend the meeting of the whole on monday the 19 of October, and listen to your elected officials put the village deeper in debt,.
6 years of no taxes has crepped up on the wounderful bunch of nomads that only care about being reelected, under there no tax increase.
Also check out the money wasted in this village by your trustees, mequon road industral park sign, flags flying, lights on , and the most wounderful thing is that both of the signs and mediem are irregated, how much did this cost along with the other two, one on Washington and Donges Bay, and HWY 145 and Donges bay, how about 300.000 DOLLARS.
400.000, wasted on blackstone creek, witch went bankrupt, and you will never see this money again, 350.000, on sidewalks, A village president that was guilty in the court of law and your trustees should have gotten rid of, but instead supported him.
We need people in these trustee offices that have some brains in the old elevator

Its time for all people who care about there service to attend the meeting of the whole on monday the 19 of October, and listen to your elected officials put the village deeper in debt,.
6 years of no taxes has crepped up on the wounderful bunch of nomads that only care about being reelected, under there no tax increase.
Also check out the money wasted in this village by your trustees, mequon road industral park sign, flags flying, lights on , and the most wounderful thing is that both of the signs and mediem are irregated, how much did this cost along with the other two, one on Washington and Donges Bay, and HWY 145 and Donges bay, how about 300.000 DOLLARS.
400.000, wasted on blackstone creek, witch went bankrupt, and you will never see this money again, 350.000, on sidewalks, A village president that was guilty in the court of law and your trustees should have gotten rid of, but instead supported him.
We need people in these trustee offices that have some brains in the old elevator

For all who want there services,not to change, attend the meeting of the whole at 5.00 pm Monday night and see your tax dollars at work.
At this meeting the public can attend but may not make verbal contact with the trustees.
At the 7.00 pm meeting the same night you may voice your opions, if you want your services not to change attend this meeting please

I recommend recall petitions for the trustees that are advancing their own uninformed personal agendas and not listening to their constituents.
Government exists for the interests of the governed, not for the governors. As Benjamin Franklin wrote, "In free governments the rulers are the servants and the people their superiors and sovereigns." The ultimate powers in a society, therefore, rest in the people themselves, and they should exercise those powers, either directly or through representatives, in every way they are competent and that is practicable.