Seward budget would add a second police sergeant using a job from the closed jail

Seward's police department would get a second patrol sergeant under the city's draft 2027-28 budget, by moving a sergeant's position left over from the city jail, which has closed. City Manager Kat Sorensen laid out the plan for the City Council at a budget work session Thursday.

Right now, one sergeant supervises eight patrol officers, Police Chief Louis Tiner told the council. The professional standard is closer to four or five, he said.

The department's 21 positions are full for the first time since 2016, by Tiner's research, after it hired four officers within a few months. Asked by Council Member Robert Barnwell what made that possible, Tiner credited a council-approved pay range increase, aggressive recruiting and some luck. The department also asked its first new hires whether they knew anyone interested, and hired another officer that way.

Over the past decade, Tiner said, the sergeant's job has grown to include reviewing all officer reports and preparing documents for the district attorney, which limits time for body camera audits. When the sergeant is off, Deputy Chief Karl Schaefermeyer supervises as many as 11 people.

The new sergeant would add a position, Tiner said, but the aim is to support the officers the department already has, not to grow its ranks.

Officers work shifts around the clock, Sorensen said, so a single sergeant can go a long time without seeing some of the officers who report to them. "Having that second sergeant allows for more flexibility so that there's more interaction with your direct supervisor," she said.

"It is a PERS position that already exists but was in the jail," Sorensen said. Eliminating a position in the state Public Employees' Retirement System usually brings a termination fee, she told the council earlier in the week. A position can be changed by up to 50 percent, she said, and turning the jail sergeant into a patrol sergeant falls within that, so the city can avoid a PERS termination tied to the jail's closure.

Full staffing drives other increases in the draft budget, which projects General Fund spending of $19.18 million in fiscal year 2027 and $19.65 million in 2028. The police uniform allowance is up more than 400 percent to outfit the new officers. Overtime is budgeted on the cautious side, Sorensen said: two officers will be at the academy next year, new hires need field training, and the jail's closure means more transports.

Earlier this week, council members questioned a proposed property tax cut in the same budget, and Sorensen floated cutting electric rates instead. The council's first public hearing on the budget is Nov. 9.