Marblehead planning police levy

MARBLEHEAD — Officials from the village of Marblehead have plans to introduce a new levy that, if approved by voters, would increase funding for its police department. Marblehead's finance committee chair, Matt Kovach, said the proposed levy is a new five-year, 2-mill levy and that those who own a $100,000 home can expect to pay $200 annually. Kovach said the idea behind the levy proposal came in early 2023 to address staffing problems in the department. "Like many other small police departments, we've been struggling to (find) and retain good officers," Kovach said. "New hires rarely stay more than a year. Kovach said that the village's hope for this proposed police levy is to "hire and retain the quality police force that our village residents want and deserve." "We've had some fantastic police officers pass through our department, and many former officers now hold leadership positions for nearby police departments," he said. "Right now, we simply cannot afford to pay our officers a competitive wage, and our department's staffing reflects that." Kovach said that the police department currently only has a police chief, one full-time officer and three part-time officers, but due to a mix of budget constraints — along with officers moving to other departments that can offer higher wages — the department has a total of two vacant part-time officer positions and one vacant full-time officer position. The latter is due to the recent firing of Officer Michael Scherer, who allegedly made more than 100 unauthorized searches for information on individuals in the state's criminal justice database. If the levy is passed, village officials hope to staff the department with an additional full-time sergeant position to help assist with both administrative and road duties. "Due to budgetary constraints, we did not re-hire that position after (a sergeant) moved on to a better opportunity," Kovach said. "Chief (Kenn) Thellmann handles most administrative matters, but he spends more time on the road than he'd prefer. All other positions are road positions." Kovach said that they would like to re-hire the recently removed full-time sergeant position and fill the now-vacant second full-time officer position in order to bring the police department to five full-time employees plus additional part-time officers. "Given the seasonal nature of our village, we'll always be a little more reliant upon part-time officers than other communities might be," Kovach said. Kovach said the village is still finalizing the ballot language, but village residents can expect the new levy to be on the upcoming November ballot. "The funds raised from this levy will be used 100% to cover police-related expenses: Staffing costs (salary and benefits), facilities, equipment (police cruisers), supplies, etc.," Kovach said. The new levy is expected to generate an additional $350,000 for the village police department annually.