Pine Bluff PD Anxiously Await Tax Vote
By: Import User
Updated: January 7, 2009
Pine Bluff Police could lose 30 officers if a penny sales tax isn`t approved, the department says.
That would reduce the department`s manpower to 108. Pine Bluff`s Police deparment usually has 155 officers.
Residents will vote on a 1-cent sales tax on Tuesday. If it passes, the tax could generate about $6 million a year.
That money would be used to replenish the city`s reserve fund and pay for storm drainage. Portions would also be used to add more officers.
If the tax doesn`t pass, the department could see its manpower cut.
"Should this tax not pass, the city is looking at cutting 30 police officers," says Chief Daniel Moses.
The department lost 17 men to military deployments and budget cuts. One million dollars was cut from the police forces 2004 budget.
