It’s on again, off again — in the wake of a perceived spike in local criminal activity — the high ho-dads down at City Hall are talking about hiking property taxes 20 cents per $100 valuation to obtain the services of 35 additional police officers. Now we’re learning more about the arcane nature of municipal finance when sashes of cash seem to be materializing out of nowhere. More exciting than a B-movie thriller, watch the police union duke it out with city officials on a variety of salient points.

And so it goes with local taxes these days. Backed by a cascade of immediate negative opposition, who knows where this ole dog of a property tax increase some say won’t hunt will end up? Maybe it’s because city residents have already burdened themselves with a variety of seemingly small increases here and there that we weren’t expected to notice.

There’s the county law enforcement sales tax to beef up the Sheriff’s Department that’s worked out pretty well. Then came the countywide mental health sales tax that was stealthily approved last November in an apparent bow to certain special interests. In its wake came the arguably more necessary 911 sales tax measure that limped across the finish line last April. Turning this into a quartet of levies, let’s not ignore various transportation development district (TDD) sales taxes voters have no say in regulated by geography or, more specifically, where you shop.

Catching up to do

Few would question that Columbia has plenty of catching up to do relative to how police services are rendered. In the long view, the department has been one of the most visible municipal stepchildren racked by occasional streaks of disdain from its masters — some might aver outright hostility — toward both its personnel and the mission the understaffed department is charged with fulfilling.

Although we suffer some discomfort because the majority of the department’s police officers are collectively organized, the police union exists because of the city’s intransigence over the years in dealing with a variety issues and controversies. The State Constitution fortunately renders its officers impotent to go on strike.

Brick-and-mortar change

The goal has been to hire up to 35 additional police officers. That’s fine. But the overarching goal should go beyond simply putting more boots on the ground. More police officers requires budgeting for additional vehicles and the greatest omission of all — additional brick-and-mortar facilities across the sprawling city.

This should begin with the downtown municipal embarrassment we call our police headquarters. This cobbled-together, morale-degrading squat-hole of a dungeon certainly reinforces whatever negative attitudes police officers have about doing their jobs.

Columbia has been especially tardy establishing police sub stations as the community continues to enlarge the territory it occupies in the county. With plenty of fire stations available, adding a police sub station to a neighborhood fire station would seem to underscore the concept of community policing many aver works to deter crime.