Council Votes To Hire 3 Officers

Three new police officers will soon be patrolling the streets of Coeur d’Alene. In the wake of losing out on a $375,000 federal grant that would have funded the positions, the City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to use savings from a reduction in the contribution rate to the Firefighters Retirement Fund (FRF) to hire the officers. Calling it an “immediate need,” Mayor Steve Widmyer supported using $118,110 from the fund to pay for the new officers. The city will also use $59,055 it had budgeted as matching funds for the federal grant that it did not receive. The retirement funding will pay for the new officers from January through the end of the fiscal year, September 30, 2015. Other funding options will be sought to retain the officers beyond that periodKeith Erickson, Coeur d’Alene Today. More here.