The Baton Rouge Police Department considers its new R44 Raven II helicopter useful in a number of situations.
BRPD purchased the chopper earlier this year from Torrance, Calif.-based Robinson Helicopter Company through a federal grant. But the cost of deploying the helicopter is higher than the department projected.
The department has spent $84,103 on operating costs as of the third quarter; it originally budgeted $62,200. The estimate was based on 1,000 hours of flight time; third-quarter expenses include 725 hours. Sgt. Don Kelly, a police spokesman, believes the helicopter will finish the year at the 1,000-hour mark.
The original figure has been adjusted slightly for the cost of repairs and maintenance, says John Carpenter, the city-parish’s acting chief administrative officer. BRPD paid $14,848 in maintenance costs this year, mostly because of mandatory inspections every 100 hours.
“The cost has increased from the original budget,” he says, “but it hasn’t been dramatic.”
But the department has requested $149,530 from the city-parish budget for 2011, an increase of $87,330 over this year’s estimate. The request includes fuel, hangar rental and maintenance, as well as travel, training and a little more than $400 per month in stipends for four officers who serve as pilots. The request is based on an estimated 1,000 hours of flight time.
A flight school manager who tracks costs for the R44 says the manufacturer’s estimates are a little low; the manager, who asked not to be identified, says the annual cost for fuel and maintenance is about $125,000 for 1,000 hours of flight time. But the department’s budget request specifies only $68,000 for fuel and maintenance—the manager says fuel costs alone typically are $75,000—with the remaining $81,530 for operational costs.
The Metro Council won’t approve the 2011 budget until December, and hearings leading up to the vote are expected to be contentious. Sales taxes have declined in East Baton Rouge Parish for 17 consecutive months, including a 3.5% drop in August compared with the same month one year ago and a 4.9% decrease over the first eight months of this year when compared to the same time frame last year.
The collection of lower sales taxes means less revenue in the general fund, which makes up 40% of the budget, and more debate over services that will receive available monies. In August, Mayor Kip Holden criticized city-parish agency leaders who failed to supply his office with proposals to cut 5% from their spending levels, adding in an e-mail that requests for increases would be rejected.
The helicopter is a small part of BRPD’s $77.7 million preliminary budget for 2011, which reflects a 3.2% increase over this year’s $75.3 million budget. But Carpenter says funding for the chopper is all but assured because of its use in law enforcement and the city’s current crime environment.
“We’re down this year, but not drastically down,” Carpenter says. “I don’t anticipate the police department will be looked at as a serious cut in the budget.”
Kelly says the helicopter currently is used an average of 20 hours per week in missions ranging from pursuits and surveillance to crime calls, missing people and search warrants.
“We use it in almost every circumstance imaginable,” he says. “Using a helicopter isn’t anything new in law enforcement. It’s only new to us.”
A mandatory engine overhaul at 2,200 flight hours is another cost that BRPD will face. If helicopter usage is kept within its budgeted hours, however, the expense will not come up until 2012.
No funds from this year’s budget have been set aside for the overhaul, which will cost at least $178,000, based on the manufacturer’s estimate.
“If it’s in the air flying more hours, that’s a good thing,” says Kurt Robinson, president of Robinson Helicopter Company. “It means [police] are preventing more crime.”
Helicopters come with certain operating costs up front, depending on the model, Robinson says, including fuel, insurance and storage space. BRPD’s helicopter costs are at the lower end of the range, even with the engine overhaul at 2,200 hours.
“Some expenses you incur whether you are in the air or not,” he says. “If you are going to pay for it one way or another, why not fly it and get some use out of it?”
The Holden administration anticipates a recovery in sales tax revenue by 2012, Carpenter says, adding that the economic downturn has begun to reverse, enabling collections to slowly recover.
Therefore, he says, a larger amount of funding for helicopter operating expenses will not be as much of an obstacle in 2012 as it would be this year.
“We are in positive territory,” Carpenter says. “Indicators for next year are pretty good. In relative terms, we’ve hit the point where we’ll start to see a gradual increase in sales taxes.”
Carpenter says Holden and Police Chief Jeff LeDuff, who has taken leave until his retirement becomes effective Dec. 1, consider BRPD’s helicopter to be an integral part of the city’s crime-fighting strategy.
“People see it fly by at night,” Carpenter says. “It lets you know [police] are out there. We want it in the air. It’s a resource we want to see utilized.”
