Struggling with drought, Texas town removes police chief, librarian
By Marques G. Harper
14 September 2012 JONESTOWN – Struggling with the economic effects of a two-year drought, Jonestown has shed its police chief and head librarian. With revenue down — fees from boat launches and building permits have dropped significantly, officials have said — the Lake Travis community’s City Council late Thursday unanimously approved a 2012-13 budget that cuts city spending, including the two key positions. City Administrator Manuel De La Rosa will take over police chief and head librarian duties. De La Rosa was hired as city administrator in April, and his initial salary was $85,000, according to a city contract. On Friday, De La Rosa said he won’t receive a salary increase with his new duties. The police chief’s annual salary is $76,365, and the library director’s salary is $43,919, De La Rosa has said. This year, the city has used about $363,000 from its reserve fund for the operating budget, city officials said. Jonestown expanded its Police Department this year, including hiring an officer for lake patrols, and bought a new boat. The city has eight full-time police officers. The property tax rate for the new fiscal year, which will start Oct. 1, will be 57.5 cents per $100 in assessed valuation, an increase of 1.5 cents. The owner of an average-value home of $243,534 will pay $1,400.32 in property taxes, or $54.63 more than this year. Operating expenses for the 2012-13 budget are expected to be $2.4 million. That’s 8 percent less than the $2.6 million spending plan the City Council adopted last year for the current budget year. As severe drought persists in western Travis County, Jonestown has been hit particularly hard. The city of 1,834 people sits at a higher elevation than other lakeside areas and is affected sooner by the low lake level. City officials said this summer that two-thirds of the city’s parks and recreation department’s revenue is generated from boat ramp fees, park reservations and special events.
Struggling with drought, Jonestown removes police chief, librarian
It seems like they're slightly over-policed for population. The US has 233 police per 100k pop according to wikipedia. So this town would have 5 instead of 8 to be average. However, it might be the inefficiencies of such a small force, or they might have more visitors than residents, etc. There are solutions that vary by underlying issue.