There are several factors driving our Protect Rio Vista Patrol costs. The first is keeping up with the increases per the FLPD contract with the city. The second is that the department is understaffed, and officers have no problem working as much overtime as they want so we have had to offer a premium to ensure that we can get enough officers to maintain our coverage. The final factor is that the city is changing the way details will be managed per the collective bargaining agreement. Beginning next year, the department will take on responsibility for tracking hours worked and will pay the officers directly. The city will then bill us for the hours worked. To cover the cost of administering the payments and associated deductions, the city will charge us an additional 8 dollars per hour. We will continue to have Sgt Wright as our detail coordinator to schedule the officers as needed in the neighborhood.
To cover the increases in costs while maintaining the same amount of coverage, the RVCA Board approved raising the PRV membership price from $475 to $550 effective November 1, 2024. At this level, your membership will fund just over 8 hours of patrol, a level we have tried to maintain.
The board trusts that you will continue to see the value the patrol brings to the neighborhood and help us maintain the level of coverage we have today. Our current PRV membership level supports 8 hours per day, 365 days per year. We need all current members to renew to maintain the current level of coverage. We encourage you to talk to your neighbors about supporting the patrol so we can add even more hours to the schedule.
I’m sure there will be some bumps in the road as we make this transition. Please feel free to contact me at
Mark Snead,
Treasurer, RVCA Board
