One-half of Measure Z funds spent on police overtime

The report - which accounted for dollars generated by the new sales tax increase between April 1 and June 30 - showed nearly half of the $1.16 million went to overtime for officers, with other funds going to equipment, officer recruiting, vehicle maintenance and a helicopter contract.
The oversight committee, composed of residents appointed by the mayor and council, plans to issue its own public report based on the audit next month.
“We owe it to the public to give a report of the first three months” of proceeds and expenditures, committee member Bob Evans said.
The review committee was established by the City Council last year to comply with Measures Z and YY, a quarter-cent sales tax increase with broad guidelines for public-safety spending city voters approved in November 2006. The committee is charged with reviewing proceeds and reporting tax use.
The report, which was produced by a city-contracted firm, showed that the tax collected $1.16 million in its first quarter of existence, far below initial city projections of about $1.6 million.
Responding to committee members’ wishes to see an itemized expenditure account, city Finance Director Barbara Pachon presented her own report.
Pachon’s report showed $548,000 spent on overtime for Crime Impact Teams - proactive officers who patrol high crime areas. Other expenses included $212,000 to contract a police helicopter, $52,000 for advertising and employee travel in recruiting new officers and about $50,000 for upgraded bulletproof vests.
Committee member and former councilwoman Susan Lien Longville said the committee should make clear that all proceeds had thus far gone to policing.
“All this stuff, it’s all (crime) suppression,” Longville said. “There’s no intervention here, there’s no prevention here,” she said.