Warning: Being tazed in Jefferson will cost you extra

Anyone who is warned by a Jefferson police officer that he may be tazed should take note: not only will he be dropped to the ground by a loss of muscle function, but he’ll also be charged $45 for the taser cartridge.

The additional charge was added to the city’s fee schedule at the city council’s June 11 meeting.

Most of the changes in the fee schedule are increases in existing charges, including an increase in the labor rate charged by the park & recreation department, an increase in the fee for a plat of survey, increases in some equipment rates charged by the public works department, and an increase for impounded vehicle storage.

The council also reviewed the financial report through April 30.

Revenues in the police department are more than twice what was anticipated when the budget for FY17-18 was formulated a year ago. The increase is due in part to the addition of some traffic ordinances to the city code last year. Jefferson police officers have always written citations for those violations, but because they weren’t city violations the court costs went to the state. Now the city retains more of the fine on those tickets.

The city was also reimbursed for a portion of the cost of the police academy for an officer who left city employment soon after completing the academy. The officer’s new employer paid that cost.
Road use tax revenue is also ahead of what was projected because of a change in accounting procedure.

Expenses are slightly ahead of what was anticipated. The 10 months include in the report represent 83.33 percent of the fiscal year. Expenses incurred at 90.64 percent of what was budgeted.

The council meeting lasted only nine minutes.

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