“I love my job, but it is stressful at times.”
Police Chief Dennis Quinn says 2023 was a difficult year for Fort Dodge. The town experienced seven homicides, an unusual situation for the community of 25,000 people.
“Over the last year, we've had a pretty rough year as a community, just with the level of violence that we've had,” Quinn said.
To combat the rise in violent crime, the Fort Dodge City Council has approved the first reading of a plan to add a 5% franchise fee to pay for eight new officers, which will bring the total force to 48.
“The officers need help. They need some time away to recharge their batteries, just like everyone else in the world does,” Quinn said. “I just want to do that for them and for the needs of our community.”
Many communities and counties across the state turn to franchise fees on electric and gas bills for extra funding. A spokesperson for MidAmerican Energy says of the 364 cities they serve, 80 collect fees ranging from 1% to 5%. Another half-dozen within the company’s service center are in various stages of adopting a fee. This includes Fort Dodge.
“Anytime you get into money, obviously, things can be contentious. And I understand that, too. I have bills to pay, just like everybody else does," Quinn said. "But this is something that we need. If there were another way that you know that the city could do this, we would do that,”
City Manager David Fierke moved to Fort Dodge from the Chicago area 17 years ago and, even with the recent uptick in crime, he believes the community is a nice place to live.
“Those of us who live here know it's a safe community; those who are looking to move here, they look at some statistics and say, ‘Well, maybe this isn't a safe place, maybe I shouldn't take that job.’ So, we need to reverse that," he said.
Fierke said other Iowa cities of similar size as Fort Dodge have larger police forces, like Mason City, Clinton and Burlington.
“Our law enforcement staff is understaffed with 40 sworn officers,” Fierke said.
The city council approved the first reading for the fee that would bring in an estimated $2.4 million a year. It would also help fund property tax relief and quality-of-life services like the library, art museum, and aquatic center.
“They don't earn enough revenue to support themselves without being tax-subsidized. It’s going to be difficult, if not impossible, to sustain that programming into the future if we don't put some money back towards it from this franchise fee,” Fierke said.
Fierke said new state tax laws limit how much money a community can levy.
“There really isn't another way to do this without a significant reduction in quality of life and other services,” he added.
The Fort Dodge City Council is expected to meet again on Feb. 12 and vote on a second reading of the proposal, with the final reading on Feb. 26. Fierke said if the council gives its full support, collection for the fee will start by the beginning of a new fiscal year on July 1.
Quinn said in an era where it is hard to recruit and retain new officers, he hoped the plan would pass.
“And no matter what, whether this goes or doesn't go, we'll obviously still respond to calls because that's our job and our priority,” he said. “We just want extra officers to be able to continue to keep giving the good quality service that we give now and even make it better.”
