At its July 23 meeting, Montgomery City Council approved an ordinance approving the budget for a crime control and prevention district, or a CCPD, for two fiscal years—2024-25 and 2025-26.
Diving in deeper
The goal of a CCPD is to add resources to the police department, allowing for expanding investigations, according to the agenda packet. The district’s creation would also assist in offsetting some of the costs of the police department, which is funded through the general fund.
The CCPD would be funded through sales tax revenue, according to prior reporting.
Through a CCPD, which has a $550,000 budget for FY 2024-25, according to the budget plan, the police department could fund items such as:
- Police officers
- Recruitment and training of police officers
- Investigation training
- Equipment, technology and vehicle replacement
- Crime prevention and partner programs
The context
During a May 28 Montgomery City Council meeting, council members voted to approve an ordinance proposing creation of the crime control and prevention district. Implementation of the CCPD is dependent on voters’ approval, and the proposal to officially create the CCPD will appear on the November ballot, as previously reported by Community Impact.
Quote of note
During the July 23 meeting, Montgomery Police Chief Anthony Solomon said the budget is a projection, and the approval is a formality that is part of the required process for a CCPD before voters decide on officially approving its creation.
“If this budget passes, unless the crime prevention board along with [Montgomery City Council] approve any use of that money, we can’t use that money,” Solomon said. “It’s for the formality of going through the [CCPD creation] steps.”
