AURORA — Police union leaders say they might sue to keep a hiring issue off the city’s Nov. 1 ballot.
The Aurora Police Association and the city will meet today to discuss the council’s decision Monday to ask voters to raise taxes to cover the funding gap in the rule that requires two police officers for every 1,000 residents.
If defeated, the staffing mandate would be eliminated, as would the sales tax to fund it.
Union president Mark Finnin questioned whether the language of the ballot measure is even legal. It asks voters to approve a 3-mill increase. If it fails, the measure dumps the staffing mandate but allows the city to continue collecting the existing quarter-cent sales tax for two years.
During the final two years of the tax, the city could reap up to $20 million to be used toward existing police staffing levels, but there would be no new police academies.
“We think legal issues need to be overcome as far as a three-part ballot,” Finnin said Tuesday.
City Attorney Charlie Richardson said prior court rulings appear to favor the city. He also said these types of challenges typically come after an election, not before.
“There’s still hope we can reach an agreement,” Richardson said.
The city has until Sept. 2 to certify its ballot, and the measure could be pulled at the last minute.
Aurora wants to collect the sales- tax revenue for the two extra years and reduce the number of officers in the department through attrition.
“It would give us two years to adjust our budget,” said City Councilwoman Barb Cleland, chairwoman of the Public Safety and Courts Committee.
But that may not happen.
Finnin said the department had expected up to 30 retirements this year. But retirement plans are in the tank and only a handful of officers have left.
The city estimates it needs to shed about 120 police positions to balance the books, so layoffs could be looming if the tax hike fails or an agreement isn’t reached.
That could mean special units such as the drug task force and others could be eliminated to keep enough patrol officers on the streets, Finnin said.
“Absolutely, we are very, very concerned,” Cleland said of the idea of layoffs. “My hope is that (the ballot measure) would pass. Our revenues are down, so we’re trying to figure out a way to make it happen.”
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175 or cillescas@denverpost.com
