Draft budget calls for 2 layoffs at police department

The draft budget before the borough assembly includes eliminating two positions from Wrangell’s seven-member force of certified police officers.

The spending plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1, Borough Manager Mason Villarma said, is constrained by flat property tax revenues, a decline in sales tax receipts, a long list of deferred maintenance projects and declining reserve funds.

The layoffs, proposed for Sept. 30, would result in the department pulling back from 24-hour coverage, Villarma explained at a borough assembly budget work session June 5.

Over the past year, he said, the de...