Chapel Hill Will Miss Safety Funds

But taxpayers don't find it as cute.

Unfortunately, it looks like Chapel Hill residents will face a tax hike -- and a reduction in services to boot.

A faltering economy already made local governments reign in spending.

To make matters worse, Gov. Mike Easley dropped a bombshell a few weeks ago by withholding funds normally distributed to the local level.

That money was factored in when both towns crafted their budgets, so now they must drag some programs to the chopping block.

Chapel Hill will face a $1.4 million cut in its budget. Carrboro's shortfall is nearly $300,000. It has left town managers and local governments scrambling to plug these unexpected holes.

One of the more unpleasant funding conundrums deals with a municipal service any taxpayer would rank high on a list of priorities: police protection.

Chapel Hill Police Chief Gregg Jarvies gave a startling presentation to the Chapel Hill Town Council last week. During the first six months of the fiscal year, there was a 29 percent rise in part-one crime (homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, auto theft and larceny).

Robberies soared by 89 percent, from 28 incidents to 53. Burglaries rose 45 percent, from 240 incidents to 349.

Conditions are ripe for a crime hike. The economy has been dealt a blow. Unemployment has risen. Everyone is feeling a pinch -- some more than others. When people can't make ends meet, burglary and robbery become options.

Granted, Chapel Hill isn't a hotbed of crime. But such a drastic increase in serious crimes over such a short period of time is enough to raise eyebrows.

After Jarvies' presentation, he asked the council for an $8.9 million budget for the police department next year -- a 2.1 percent increase over this year.

But the town asked the police department to devise a budget with a zero percent increase in funding, citing tough economic times and budget cuts.

It's an understandable request. The town is in difficult fiscal straits, and needs to cut corners every way it can.

But police services should be the last item that gets shortchanged.

If you asked residents and students to cite the most important features of Chapel Hill, "safety" would rank close to the top. After all, when you have a town brimming with 18- to 21-year-olds living on their own for the first time and wealthy neighborhoods full of families with children, criminals salivate. A strong police presence is essential to ensuring the safety of these residents.

The Chapel Hill Police Department is already facing staff shortages. "We're 16 posts short over the last couple of months, up over the usual 10 short. That's a big decrease when you're only talking about a hundred-man work force," Maj. Tony Oakley told The Daily Tar Heel.

Police officials tried to put the best face on the situation, saying they will continue outreach programs to deter crime as best they can.

But outreach programs can only do so much. Filling shortages in police staff is far more critical for keeping the crime rate down.

But in addition to cutting services, the town will inevitably be forced to raise taxes. Even before the state withheld funds, a 5-cent hike was estimated to fund the original budget.

Now, it appears as though that number could balloon to as much as 13 cents. The figures will not be set in stone until the state decides exactly how deep the cuts in funding will be.

In the meantime, public departments are being asked to cinch their belts and taxpayers are being asked to dig deeper into their pockets.

I'm not implying that the council is being miserly. This budget shortfall is largely out of its control. Funding cuts and tax increases are inevitable in order to stay out of the red.

But police service should be kept from the chopping block if at all possible. Yes, a 2.1 percent funding increase is tough to swallow in this climate.

But a 29 percent jump in violent crime in just six months is even harder.

Columnist Jonathan Chaney can be reached at jhchaney@email.unc.edu.