Labor shortages put city services at risk

In the past year, businesses across the county and nation have struggled to fill open positions. The City of Cape Girardeau is no exception.

According to Mayor Bob Fox, all city departments are understaffed. If things continue as they are, Fox said, services may have to be cut.

"Right now, with our salary schedule, air traffic controllers, police officers or firemen could go somewhere else and make 25% more," Fox said. "I think we're at the risk next year of eliminating some services and changing the way we do business."

The city's Parks and Recreation Department currently has 10 vacant positions, Fox said. Sixty-two police officers staff the Cape Girardeau Police Department when optimum staffing would include 85 officers.

Cape Girardeau Fire department is down two positions for firemen, Fox said. However, another will soon retire, as will three more before January, bringing the department down six total firemen. A labor shortage would force the fire department to cut supplemental services such as CPR classes and standbys at events, according to Fox.

"But it would also mean that we're probably going to close a fire station," Fox added. "That means longer response times in the area where the fire station closed. Then, our ISO rating may go up, which means everybody's fire insurance rates on their homeowner's insurance could go up, too."

Ten years ago, Cape Girardeau Fire Department received on average 20 to 25 applicants for open positions, according to Fox. Now, they may obtain two.

According to Sgt. Joey Hann, the Cape Girardeau Police Department's public information and training officer, Cape Girardeau Police currently has 23 job vacancies.

Hann called the department's staff shortage the result of a "perfect storm." Officers have handled a generally negative climate against law enforcement on top of receiving little pay, which has been an issue at the Cape Girardeau Police Department for years, according to Hann.

"Most of us started with the understanding that there would be a step increase, where as we became senior officers and spent more time on the job, our pay would be increased," Hann said. "Unfortunately, that never happened."

Pay at Cape Girardeau Police Department is also uncompetitive, according to Hann.

Last year, Cape Girardeau County voters approved a half-cent Law Enforcement and Public Safety tax. The sales tax allowed the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office to increase pay for officers.

Cape Girardeau Police Department also has to compete with smaller cities nearby who pay more than what City of Cape officers receive, according to Hann.

"It's hard to retain good quality officers when they can travel short distances within the state or out of the state and make considerably more money doing the same job," Hann said.

Due to the labor shortage, officers have to work long hours, some multitasking multiple roles at once. The department has had to restrict certain services as a result, Hann said.

For example, the department's traffic unit has disbanded. Officers who normally work in the traffic unit have been reassigned to the department's patrol division.

Services may also need to be cut in the city's public works department, according to director Stan Polivick. The department has 14 vacant positions, when two years ago they might've had three.

Polivick said he worried how the staff shortage will affect snow season.

"If things don't get better and I don't get some people hired before snow season comes, we're going to have to modify which streets we plow," Polivick said.

Polivick said responses to work requests may also be slower. As workers leave to place with higher pay, Polivick said he's had to shuffle staff members across different departments to get work done.

According to Fox, there's one solution the city may have to fix staff shortages across city departments.

"Our only solution is to come up with more revenue," Fox said. "The only way we can do that effectively is to pass the use tax since we rely on sales tax almost exclusively."

Cape Girardeau voters will see the use tax on ballots Nov. 2. If passed, it could bring in millions of dollars for the city, according to previous Southeast Missourian reporting.

However, even if voters approve the use tax, it would not take effect until Jan. 1, 2023, Fox said.

"It's going to take some creative ways to begin to address this [labor shortage] next year if the use tax passes," Fox said. "We've just got to meet it head on. It's a big challenge."