The largest request, for $327,285, came from the Police Department to cover overtime expenses. Police Chief Harry Rilling also requested more than $135,000 to provide severance payments to personnel.

Finance Director Thomas Hamilton told the BET that the city is "paying out more rapidly than expected" for the Police Department severance accounts. "Unfortunately, we're continuing to have expenses more than anyone envisioned."

The severance payments are for personnel who chose to utilize the Deferred Retirement Option Plan. A July 10 Finance Department memo notes that an appropriation of $488,000 for the DROP also was made in January.

Rilling explained that "when the DROP plan was negotiated, the projection was 53 [employees] would be eligible. We did not think so many would choose it. But now we're at 39 who've taken it. That's far greater than anticipated."

BET member Stuart Wells asked if the city is "through the bulge" of costs for the DROP. Hamilton answered that he had thought so, but "additional people elected to DROP. It's difficult to budget for when the numbers are as large as they are."

The DROP is a retirement provision that was incorporated in the police union's contract in 2003. To be eligible, an employee must be at least 48 years old and have served the department for at least 20 years. Electing to participate allows an officer to collect a portion of his or her pension in advance to be put into a special account he or she can access after leaving city employment. The employee, however, continues to work and receive a salary for a number of years.

The request for severance payments is "somewhat of a misnomer," Hamilton said, because the payment for the DROP actually covers unused vacation time, a certain amount of unused sick days, and terminal pay based on one day's pay for each year of work.

Mayor Richard Moccia noted that the "DROP plan has had a more devastating effect on our budget than we ever realized." He praised the police force for its public safety work but said there has "never been a more devastating issue negotiated in the city than this DROP plan."

Despite the unanticipated costs, Hamilton was able to offer the BET a bit of good news about the city budget. "Fortunately, with revenues higher than budgeted, the city can support [the severance pay request] without jeopardizing the fund balance." He projects a budget surplus of up to $750,000 for the fiscal year that ended on June 30.

The larger request for police overtime costs, however, did not receive an optimistic response from Hamilton. "This is the second major appropriation this year," he said. "I can candidly say I am increasingly concerned about spending over budget coming out of the Police Department, especially in overtime."

Hamilton noted that $414,000 was appropriated in January for the department's overtime. "I thought that was all that was needed for the rest of the year." With the current request for $327,285, the total additional funding for overtime is more than $740,000, he said.

BET Chairman Fred Wilms said he is "concerned that overtime has gone from $1.3 million to $2.5 million" since 2002. "It's doubled. The trend line is very concerning."

Rilling pointed to a three-page memo he wrote to Hamilton on July 3 that explained the reasons for the overtime costs. He said the Patrol Division had used 66 percent of the entire overtime budget while both the Special Services Division and the Detective Bureau also had gone over budget in their overtime accounts.

Rilling noted that the department was funded for 173 officers, six less than the authorized strength of 179. "That fact alone would contribute to an increase in overtime from previous years and was, in fact, understood when staffing levels were discussed." He added that the department has had three audits in recent years concerning the overtime account and the auditors "found no abuses" and made "no recommendations except an increase in staffing."

Rilling said the city had an increase in crime in 2004-05 and the department put together a task force of seven officers, which in turn created a shortage of staff in the Patrol Division. "We now have 158 officers on staff," Rilling stated, "we're authorized for 179. That creates an overtime situation."

The department has hired five new officers this year, but they are still attending the Connecticut Police Academy and won't graduate until July 25, Rilling said. After that, he said, the officers need 12 weeks of field training before they're certified to perform their duties.

Moccia said the new hires should help decrease overtime. "However, we have had shootings and killings that have to be investigated." He noted that having officers on the streets after those recent crimes "keeps the revenge factor down," and violence didn't occur in response to the shootings.

Rilling's memo to Hamilton states that "a recent homicide, which occurred just two weeks ago, has already required over 200 hours of overtime at a cost of over $11,000."

Hamilton reiterated that the budget approved for 2006-07 "is more narrowly balanced" and any additional revenue next year most likely won't "be of the magnitude" expected for 2005-06.

After about an hour of discussion, the BET unanimously approved the Police Department requests for special appropriations, as well as a variety of others, including $82,353 for the Fire Department, $121,908 for the Combined Dispatch and Emergency Preparedness Planning Department and $222,570 for 10 severance packages. The appropriations total nearly $929,000.