AUBURN -- With the Auburn school board agreeing to take on a larger share of the school resource officer program next fiscal year, the Auburn City Council has the option to reinstate six patrol officers who are proposed to be eliminated in the 2006-07 budget. The council could also chose, however, to stick with the proposal to eliminate the six and designate the savings to lower the recommended 9-percent property tax increase.

A couple of weeks ago, the Auburn Enlarged City School District Board of Education agreed to pay $290,000 for the SRO program. In past years, the school board paid $175,000 and the city paid $175,000 toward the program. The city's proposed budget this year recommended eliminating the program unless the school board took on more of the cost.

City manager John Salomone recommended Thursday that the council reinstate the SRO program with the additional revenue from the school board and then reinstate the six patrol officers rather than use any savings to reduce the tax increase.

Without the SRO program, the five SRO officers, who are all senior officers, would have returned to work as patrol officers. If the SRO program is reinstated, the city will no longer have to pay the higher-seniority SRO officers as patrol officers and could chose to put the six junior officers back into the budget.

Thursday night's council budget hearing focused on public safety, which involves the police and fire departments. While the police department saw a 6.1 percent reduction in its budget this year, the fire department saw a 7.9 percent increase.

The fire department did not face any personnel reductions in the proposed budget, so much of the increase in its budget this year came through the salary increases negotiated by all the city's unions.

For the full report, read Friday's edition of The Citizen.