Seattle Police Department budget proposal

More money woes for the Seattle Police Department budget, and let's check in now with Sam Campbell, who is live outside City Hall. And Sam, you say the department is meeting with the council later this morning to talk about this budget issue. That's right, Bill, in about one hour. And the police department has now had time to digest Mayor Katie Wilson's budget proposals for the next couple years, and it's giving an analysis to the city council about that, again, in about one hour. So we've been looking through those budget documents. So let's go ahead and take a look at some of the details and make some sense of our taxpayer dollars. So Mayor Wilson wants to expand the number of sworn officers over the next two years. But the department says the breakdown of that is what's troubling, adding 43 next year. But in 2028, zero new officer positions, meaning zero growth of uniform staff, despite projected population growth in a city that already has a low amount of officers per capita compared to other major American cities. By 2028, the mayor wants SPD to have 1,250 sworn officers. And that is the source of another issue right there. The department says the city miscalculated how much funding they'll need to pay their salaries next year. And it's too much money, $4.5 million too much. But the department is not asking the mayor to take back that money It wants to keep it two and a half million dollars to cover what it calls Ongoing technology costs and the remaining two million to provide a quote-unquote cushion to its salary budget the overpayment again It's not made yet. This is all still under a proposed budget But it is not the first miscalculation from the city on police pay the last one still top of mind for some in the city Recovering the money next year and you can reallocate that 13 million dollars Doing so would also have the additional benefit of signaling to the public that you're holding SPD accountable and also provide the department, the police department, some motivation to get busy with getting that money back. Now, back in July, the city overpaid 900 employees of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, a total of $13 million sent to them in a back pay miscalculation. The city will negotiate with the police union to figure out how they're going to pay back that money. And all of this while the mayor's proposal boasts of balancing the budget with no new taxes, but big cuts. And some of those cuts looks like may be coming to the Seattle Police Department, namely in the areas of parking enforcement, marketing, HR, and a freeze on new hiring incentives. The department's going to be speaking with city council about that again in about one hour, and we'll have more for you throughout the morning. But for now, live outside City Hall, Sam Campbell, Fox 13 News.