Sunday, January 20, 2013
The 2012 report represents the fourth year in a row of overall crime reduction, according to police data. See which crime categories decreased and which increased.
Serious crime in areas protected by St. Louis County Police Department officers has decreased in 2012, dropping to its lowest level since 1969. The total population served directly by county police is more than 410,000. Index crime statistics comparing 2012 to 2011 in the municipalities served by county officers, as well as unincorporated St. Louis County, show an overall reduction of 8.7 percent. The county police team stated in a news release the following update: These crime numbers include offenses reported in a community more recently contracted with the county police department last March—the City of Dellwood. In Missouri, a St. Louis County police spokesperson said only the Kansas City Police Department is responsible for more …
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Pay increases are being discussed by officials during St. Louis County's budgeting process this year. It would mark the first time in four years that employees were given raises.
Raises for St. Louis County employees are being discussed by officials during this year's budgeting process. (Sign up here for the FREE Patch Newsletter, including Breaking News Alerts.) It would be the first raise county employees received in four years. “We’re in the first third of the budget process and talking about all of the different options here,” said Mac Scott, spokesperson for County Executive Charlie Dooley. He added that a raise isn't certain yet. “We got some things (last year) that were better than we thought they’d be,” he said. Councilman Steve Stenger (D-South County) reinforced the possibility during a South County Chamber of Commerce meeting on Thursday. “The St. Louis County police are the best in the area, but we …
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
A spokesperson for St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley said a projected shortfall in the parks department may not be a reality.
Calls for a tax increase to pay for St. Louis County parks because of a funding shortfall could be sounding the alarm too early. That’s according to one official in County Executive Charlie Dooley’s office who asserts that a $500,000 budget shortfall might not actually exist. “That’s a nice number, I don’t know if it’s based on any kind of reality,” spokesperson Mac Scott said. “We’re unaware of that kind of a problem as this point.” The parks department created a business planbased on 2013 budget projections from the county executive’s office. Those projections included zero funding from the county’s general fund and a $7.4 million decrease in the budget over two years. The business plan looked at alternate revenue sources and cost-…
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
A committee of parks supporters studied the St. Louis County Parks system and endorsed a tax increase proposal. The measure must pass through the county council, where Councilman Steve Stenger said there is not a problem with parks funding.
A sales tax increase that might be on the ballot in April would free St. Louis County parks from further cuts or closures. That’s according to a committee of parks supporters who filed an interim report with county officials in July. The Green Ribbon Committee, which is comprised of former and current parks directors, city officials and trail agencies, was tasked with analyzing the county parks system after a tumultuous year of layoffs and threats to close parks. Councilman Steve Stenger, who represents South County, said the committee was a “rubber stamp operation” for County Executive Charlie Dooley to get a tax increase passed in St. Louis County. Stenger has been a vocal opponent of Dooley, and has hinted at running for county …
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Councilman Steve Stenger disagrees with the allocation for St. Louis County Parks as County Executive Charlie Dooley’s budget office reduces funding for the department.
The St. Louis County Parks Department is still $500,000 in the red despite laying off 20 employees and increasing revenue by $193,780. Those numbers were presented to the St. Louis County Council Tuesday in a plan meant to make the parks department more efficient. Acting Parks Director Tom Ott created a business plan that outlined a strategy to keep parks providing the basic services while reducing costs. The plan comes seven months after County Executive Charlie Dooley proposed closing 23 parks and laying off more than 100 employees because of a budget crisis. Dooley later said he miscalculated a $10 million deficit, which left the county parks open. Even with a $3 million reported surplus at the end of 2011, the parks department received…
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Employees were told their jobs were safe.
At age 43, Michele Whalen is looking for another job after almost three months of uncertainty. Whalen was one of 20 St. Louis County Parks employees who received lay-off notices on Jan. 24. An additional six employees were laid off in other departments. “They saved the parks, but they didn’t save our jobs,” she said. “At least now we know what was up, from Oct. 31 to Tuesday, we couldn’t do anything, we couldn’t plan anything. How would you like living your life like that?” Whalen has worked in the parks maintenance department at Jefferson Barracks Park for the last year, and was a seasonal employee for three years before that. The 26 layoffs come after a heated debate over the 2012 county budget. On Oct. 31, Dooley submitted a budget to …
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Twenty-six employees in the parks and public works departments to be laid off.
In a move that saves St. Louis County about $4 million, County Executive Charlie Dooley announced he was laying off 26 full-time employees, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Wednesday. Six employees come from the public works department, while the parks department will see 20 lay-offs. Dooley also plans to terminate four part-time positions in the parks department, one full-time job in the revenue department and 25 funded, but unfilled positions. Dooley said the county would lay off employees after he and the County Council reached a compromise on the 2012 budget. He originally proposed shutting down 23 St. Louis County Parks, laying off 173 employees and eliminating snowplowing in unincorporated areas when less than 2 inches …
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
After a tumultuous two-month period that included threats of park shutdowns, protests and the possible closing of a West County satellite office, council members sign off on a $357 million budget.
The St. Louis County Council has approved a $357 million budget that spares county parks and averts the shutdown of a satellite office in West County. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the budget plan will include cuts in staff through layoffs and through allowing vacant positions to remain unfilled — including 10 positions in the county police department. The Post says those positions do not include patrol officers. The cuts could involve as many as 50 employees. “That won’t be decided until January, where we’re at with those positions,” councilman Mike O’Mara, D-Florissant, told KMOX. The biggest hit is likely to come from the parks department; while no parks will be closed, the department budget is down from $26 million to $22.6 …
Thursday, December 15, 2011
The General Fund gains $350,000 in the process. The final vote is next week.
To save all the county parks and keep snow plowing in unincorporated areas of St. Louis County, the St. Louis County Council voted Tuesday to adjust four funds from the original proposed 2012 budget. County Executive Charlie Dooley had made an announcement at the previous council meetingthat a compromise was reached which saved 23 parks from closing. The General fund started out at $232,091,091 in County Executive Charlie Dooley’s original 2012 budget, which included closing the county parks. The amended amount passed last night was $232,441,091—an additional $350,000. Three department budgets saw adjustments. The council voted to pull $22,754,346 from unappropriated Park Maintenance funds, to go toward the Parks and Recreation Department…
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
County Executive Charlie Dooley said all St. Louis County Parks will remain open.
Less than five minutes into Tuesday’s St. Louis County Council meeting, County Executive Charlie Dooley made the announcement that all 23 St. Louis County Parks slated for closure in 2012 will stay open. “The things that we’ve compromised on is that we’re going to leave all of our parks systems open… we will keep the West County satellite office open as well, and we will keep the plowing in unincorporated St. Louis County,” he said. The county executive emphasized a team effort in not only adjusting the 2012 budget, but also looking ahead for long-term solutions to what he originally predicted to be a $26 million budget deficit. “There may be lingering issues in the future about how large a deficit was or wasn’t, or if it exists. Those don…
FedUpVet
1:35 pm on Sunday, January 20, 2013
Crime has steadily been dropping here in Missouri and especially in St. Louis County since both the Carried Concealed Bill was passed and Chief Fitch was appointed. We should credit it to smart police work and less potential victims on the streets. more ›