The Public Safety Commission voted 3-0 Wednesday to recommend the Haines Borough Assembly pay an additional $63,000 in the current year budget to the Police Department to cover overtime and standby hours under a four-man force.

Haines Borough police chief Heath Scott made an extensive presentation saying the police department already has incurred a $31,290 deficit and is expected to have a $63,000 deficit by the end of fiscal year 2017.

“The deficit has curtailed how we’re doing business now,” Scott said.

He cited overtime and standby costs as the cause of the shortfall, while trying to provide overlap in work hours so officers are never alone.

“It’s not safe to go do anything if you are by yourself,” said police officer Chris Brown.

In total, Scott said about $507,000 is the yearly budget the police department actually needs with four officers. With a fifth officer, the police department would need $586,104 a year, but it would increase officer safety and improve work/life balance for his staff, Scott said.

The discussion also ranged into a broader talk about expanding the borough-wide medical service area to also include police service outside the town site. Police jurisdiction is within the town site.

“I think when we passed the medical service area we were short-sighted,” said commissioner Jim Stanford.

Stanford proposed to change the language from medical service area to “emergency service area,” which would include police service.

“But if a 911 call comes from the outer borough, how do we pay for this?” Stanford asked. He said he would be happy to pay about a 1 mil increase in property tax for the ability to call for police assistance out on Haines Highway.

“This is the moral quagmire that we’re under,” said police chief Heath Scott. “When someone needs help, we’re going to help them…It wasn’t addressed in our budget to be constantly going out the road.”

“We’ve been here before,” Stanford said, saying the Public Safety Commission was ignored by former borough managers Mark Earnest and David Sosa when it pushed for emergency services out of the townsite.

Assembly liaison and Chilkat Valley News publisher Tom Morphet questioned if the dispatchers could use discretion on whether to send officers to cases outside the town site, depending on the severity of the matter. Scott said that’s already done.

Scott said the dispatchers do discriminate in case severity.

Stanford said the commission will call another meeting to hash out details of the area change when Judy Erekson and Ewald also can attend. Only Stanford and Clemens were physically in attendance, Bob Duis phoned in.

“This is a dilemma we can get past,” Scott said. “We really enjoy working in this community.”