FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Brie Turek (407) 246-3106
Heather Allebaugh (407) 246-3423
MAYOR DYER UNVEILS MULTI-YEAR,
MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR CITYWIDE PUBLIC SAFETY INITIATIVE
Watch the press conference online
Orlando, FL (July 7, 2006) — As our community
continues to see tremendous growth, the City of Orlando must enhance the
strength and force of the police and fire departments and public safety
personnel to meet and respond to the challenges the City faces today, and will
face in the future.
Mayor Dyer is proposing that a significant portion of the unexpected increase in
ad valorem revenue be dedicated to a three-year, comprehensive Public Safety
Initiative to increase the effective strength of our police officers and fire
personnel by 11%. This multi-year program will also dedicate bondable revenue to
capital improvements, resulting in more than $66 million in public safety
projects that will put additional police on the streets, substations in our
neighborhoods, more fire and rescue units on our roads and more fire stations in
our districts.
“We are fortunate to have this opportunity to leverage additional tax revenue
for the benefit of the citizens of Orlando. And, while we are committed to
maintaining the financial stability we have worked so hard to achieve, we will
aggressively dedicate every resource available to protect and serve the citizens
of Orlando, ensuring the safety and future of our neighborhoods,” said Buddy
Dyer, Mayor, City of Orlando.
Mayor Dyer’s Multi-Year, Multi-Million Dollar Citywide Public Safety Initiative
will:
Increase the effective strength and force of our public safety personnel.
Putting 75 more trained and skilled officers on our streets over the next three
years that will patrol our neighborhoods and protect our children; In addition,
two detectives will be added to the Violent Crimes section of the Investigative
Bureau. The City will fund three new fire stations with 45 new fire personnel
operating 3 advanced life support engine companies in Savannah Park, Lake Nona
and the Millenia area.
Enhance the public safety infrastructure. Adding two police sub-stations and
three new fire stations in the southeast and southwest parts of the city will
allow officers to become threaded into our distinct City neighborhoods. In
addition, the Fire Department’s Special Operation and Technical Rescue teams
have decentralized bringing them closer to neighborhoods and residents.
New eastside public safety complex. The City will complete the funding of a new
public safety complex on Primrose that will open this fall, housing OPD’s
Neighborhood Enhancement Community branch and the Fire department’s training and
special ops units.
Provide our officers with the advanced training opportunities. A new
state-of-the-art, multi-use training facility with classrooms and
night-simulated firearms training will ensure our police officers have the
latest and most up-to-date training.
A new high-tech, digital communication system. This new, Citywide system,
Project 25, will soon be the standard around the country and allows our first
responders to more efficiently and consistently communicate with one another,
and outside agencies, during an emergency
Additional frontline emergency responders. Our frontline emergency responders at
the communications call center will grow in force adding 10 new dispatchers to
maintain our high standard for customer service and responsiveness in answering
your emergency 9-1-1 calls.
Attain a perfect ISO rating of 1. This 3-year proposal also includes the
training, equipment and personnel that will lay the foundation to attain the
City’s first ISO rating of “1.” We are currently a 2. This is the highest rating
that cities and communities across the nation strive to achieve for their
citizens … attaining rapid response times, lowering residential and commercial
property insurance rates and keeping the Orlando Fire Department in the top 1%
of rated-fire agencies in the country.
Additional tools and resources. Included in this initiative is a recurring
increase of nearly half a million dollars for the replacement and purchase of
life saving equipment, including self-contained breathing apparatus, hoses,
thermal imaging cameras and personal protective gear.
Multi-family inspection program. Through this proposal, a new, multi-family
inspection program will be added to our Code Enforcement Division, to focus on
monitoring and inspecting multi-family developments, and to also monitor condo
conversion projects. This program will bring 7 new positions, increasing the
efficiency of Code Enforcement by 25% to better monitor complaints and ensure
the safety of residents throughout our City.
Graffiti reduction program. Graffiti attracts other forms of crime and street
delinquency to the neighborhoods. Adding a dedicated staff person to the Keep
Orlando Beautiful program will help establish a graffiti reduction program that
will educate youth and adults about the importance of graffiti prevention and
abatement and provide tools and resources such as graffiti removal kits to
businesses and residents. In addition, partnering with the OPD will enhance the
ability to monitor graffiti-prone locations and enforce vandalism laws.
Families, Parks and Recreation Service Enhancements. Over the past two years,
the City has developed new recreation centers and beautification projects for
our parks. Now, we are taking a proactive approach by adding personnel to patrol
our parks and recreational facilities.
About the Funding Proposal for Public Safety:
For Fiscal Year 2006-2007, the City of Orlando is projecting a 25% increase in
the ad valorem tax revenue over last year, typically the City would expect to
the growth to be 9%.
The three-year public safety initiative is estimated at $43M for operating
expenses that include personnel and equipment. And $66M for capital projects
that include public safety facilities.
The additional funding mechanism for this initiative will be debt service on the
capital projects. This is estimated at $66M and will be paid out of 20 years at
$5.6M per year.
The total estimate for this public safety initiative is $17.7M per year.
Watch the press conference online
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