DUBOIS – On Monday the Sandy Township supervisors approved its preliminary 2019 budget. It will be finalized at a special meeting Dec. 27.
According to the supervisors, the budget doesn’t call for a tax increase. Additionally, it will allow for two, new full-time police officers.
The supervisors continued work on the budget during its public board meeting. Last-minute changes brought the budget gap from $600,000 to $100,000 to come out of the township’s reserves.
With the two new officers, the department would have 11 full-time officers, pending a promotion to chief or an outside hiring to fill the position.
The supervisors said this will reduce the township’s reliance upon part-time officers. They also debated on whether or not to keep the department accredited.
According to the supervisors, there have been issues with keeping part-time officers. It was noted that a “side effect” of accreditation is officers can list working for an accredited department after three months of training.
Subsequently, it’s led to a string of part-time officers being trained and educated by Sandy Township, and they turn around and get hired to work for other departments.
It was noted by Supervisor Andy Shenkle that four to five part-time officers have taken jobs in St. Marys alone.
