Challenges Faced by Leaders on Budget Issues

Budget Issues Paper
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Budget Issues Paper
Summary of the article
The article by Ellis (2021) focuses on Mayor Ted Wheeler proposing an increase in police funding in a $7 million public safety package, more police officers, and body cameras. The mayor further indicated he hoped that in three years, there would be an increase in 300 officers including sworn officers and unarmed public safety specialists. in 2020, when there were calls for defunding the police the Portland Police Bureau suffered budget cuts, but in 2021 Mayor Wheeler recognized the need for an increased budget to improve staffing and by extension improve security. The Portland Police Bureau is understaffed and there have been concerns that budget cuts affected the bureau. Most of the budget increase would focus on police recruitment efforts and body cameras.Operating budget
In the financial year, the requested and recommended budget for Portland Police Bureau is $248.3 million, which is a 4.2% increase from the 2019-2020 budgets. In the requested budget both the general fund discretionary and non-general funds (City of Portland, 2021). The Portland City Council had approved budget-cutting in 2019-2020 for the Police Bureau, but still, there was recognition there was a need to focus on public safety issues. It takes time to train new police officers and even with changes in the budget there is a focus on increasing police patrols. The Portland council approves the budget for the police bureau. The police bureau’s budget expenses are mainly linked to personnel costs and with the need to hire more officers there will be a greater need for increased funding (City of Portland, 2021).
Challenges faced by leaders on budget issues
Budgeting shortfalls have resulted in staffing shortages and this affects the ability of law enforcement officers to address public safety issues, but leaders still need to find ways to work with what they have. It is also challenging to increase patrol levels when there are uncertainties about budgeting for the bureau. In the 2019-2020 financial years, the police department struggled with budget cuts that caused the department to be overstretched. Furthermore, it is more difficult to quell violence and lawlessness when there are budget cuts and fewer police officers on patrol. The police bureau is expected to work with fewer resources and the threat of budget cuts complicates matters. Minimizing expenditure would take time, as there is a growing need for more police officers being recruited, but the council determines the level of fun...