Council Debates, Then Approves Police Software Contract

The City Council approved a three-year contract for police department computer services Monday night but not before debating the merits of the agreement.

The council voted 3-0 to approve the $248,000 contract with Data 911/Hubb Systems LLC to provide software and some hardware services for police dispatching, records and related functions.

The current $222,000 three-year contract expires at the end of this month.

Mayor John Hanecak and council members David Durant and Jack Weir voted to approve the pact. Vice Mayor Michael Harris wasn't present.

Weir, however, was hesitant to vote for the agreement. He said he felt the city was cornered without a lot of options because of the lack of competition in this particular software industry.

"I'm very uncomfortable being locked into a system like this," he said. "I hate to be in a situation when we have no alternatives."

Weir asked if the other council members would agree to a one-year contract while other options were explored. Hanecak and Durant declined.

Durant said he felt the contract's cost was within reason. He also noted the praise from police administrators for the customer service provided by Data 911.

"It does seem to me that the structure of this agreement is reasonable," Durant said.

The contract, however, needed three votes for approval, so a "no" vote by Weir would have defeated the proposal.

Weir eventually agreed, saying he didn't want to put the police department into a situation where they didn't have adequate computer services.

The council members did ask city officials to start looking at other companies, so the city would have alternatives in the future.

Budget Update

The council also received a quarterly budget update from Finance Director Mary McCarthy.

She reported the city is on pace to bring in $20 million in revenues in fiscal year 2012-13 and have expenditures of $20.3 million. The $366,000 deficit will be covered by funds from the city's $10.8 million reserve.

McCarthy noted sales tax revenues are projected to be $6.9 million this fiscal year, the highest since 2004-2005. Businesses such as the Safeway gas station, In N Out Burger and Big 5 Sporting Goods are major factors for the increase.

The city is also expecting $2.4 million this year from vehicle license fees, slightly more than the $2.2 million it's projecting in property tax. That led Mayor Hanecak to comment that Pleasant Hill is earning more from its cars than it is its houses.

Business license revenue is also expected to bring in $2.2 million. The city's six hotels are projected to generate $1.4 million in transient occupancy tax revenue.

McCarthy said the state's financial situation is more solid after the passage of tax measures on the Nov. 6 ballot, but she said there could still be some financial volatility as the fiscal year progresses.