Arvada – Voters in Arvada will decide next week whether to increase the city’s sales tax to put more police on the streets.
Referendum 2A in Arvada asks residents to approve a sales tax increase of one-quarter of 1 percent to hire 23 police officers and three sergeants and add seven civilian positions.
The referendum, which would add 25 cents to a $100 purchase in the city, is supported by an organized group of residents known as Citizens for a Safe Arvada.
Traffic issues; changing crime trends, including identity theft linked to methamphetamine use; and an aging population, which tends to be more susceptible than other age groups as a crime target, are among reasons the Police Department needs to grow, supporters of the referendum say.
“This is an issue of safety,” said Bob West, a fourth- generation Arvadan who supports the initiative. “It’s just a … good investment.”
If approved, the sales tax increase would bring an estimated additional $3 million annually to the Police Department. The department’s current annual budget is about $17 million. The department has 139 sworn officers and a total staff of 213.
The city has about 103,000 residents, according to U.S. census figures.
Supporters of the referendum also look at increased costs to the city, including insurance and energy needs, as reasons to support the tax hike.
But just like the city, some residents are feeling the pinch of rising bills.
“There are some of us who can’t afford it,” said Hildegard Hix, a longtime resident.
Hix, who has lived in the same home with her husband for 41 years, said police are doing good work with the numbers they have now.
“We can see what is going on, and I don’t feel unsafe,” she said.
Resident David Chandler agreed.
“In my neighborhood, the people I talk to, we just feel it’s fine and safe,” Chandler said. “I don’t feel the need for it. I think they are doing a fine job the way they are now.”
The initiative is supported by the mayor and the City Council.
Police Chief Ron Sloan said the average time it takes police to respond to 911 calls in the city has increased by a minute over the past year, in part because there aren’t enough patrol officers on the street.
Said Sloan: “We don’t have enough cops to meet the demand of public safety in the city right now.”
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-820-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
