| | | | | | | | | City of Independence | | AGENDA ITEM COVER SHEET |
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| | | | | | | | Agenda Title:
Council action is requested on directing the City Manager to amend the American Recovery Plan funding plan by reducing funding for the Square Streetscaping project and reallocating said funds for police body cameras.-Requested by Councilmember Brice Stewart. |
| | | | | | | | Executive Summary:
Signed into law on March 11, 2021, The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”) provides $350 billion in additional funding for state and local governments. The local funding portion is approximately $130 billion, equally divided between cities and counties. Independence will receive the funds in two tranches – the first after the US Treasury certifies the proceeds to each jurisdiction and the second one year later. Independence is expected to receive a total of $20.3M and received it's first tranche of $10,742,962 on July 1, 2021. |
| | | | | | | | Previous Activity:
The City's funding allocation for the American Rescue Plan was originally approved by the City Council on June 21, 2021 and was amended by the City Council on September 20, 2021. |
| | | | | | | | Background:
The estimated upfront cost for outfitting the Independence Police Department with body cameras is $678,612. The police department currently utilizes in-car camera technology only. There are many instances in which incidents occur outside of the view of the in-car camera. The cost to transition to body camera technology is too cost prohibitive for both the general fund budget as well as the public safety tax fund. The approximate price quote for body camera technology is as follows:
-$351,612 for 250 cameras
-$132,000 for storage (storage services with tech services. There would be some annual costs through tech services, however there is no definitive cost at the time of this memo).
-$79,000/year (does not include benefits) (1) full time employee added to the police department for technology issues for the operation of the body camera technology.
-$116,000/year (does not include benefits) (2) full time police department records unit personnel to handle sunshine law request and other video requests for duplication and redaction purposes.
-Cloud storage. The police department does not have any approximate or definitive costs for cloud storage at the time of this memo. Typically, cloud storage services require an annual payment.
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Fiscal Impact:
Approval of this item would reduce funding for the Square Streetscaping project from $1,435,000 to $756,388. A new line item would be added for Police Body Cameras totaling $678,612. Of this amount, $351,612 represents one-time expenses with remaining $327,000 representing ongoing expenses that will need to be funded on an annual basis. This amount does not include employee benefit costs or cloud storage services.
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| | | | | | | | | Department: City Council | Contact Person: Brice Stewart |
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| REVIEWERS: | | Department | Action | | City Managers Office | Approved | | Finance Department | Approved | | City Managers Office | Approved | | City Clerk Department | Approved |
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| Council Action: | Council Action: |
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