The Georgeville city government provides a wide variety of services to the community. Among them is the protection provided by the police force. In order to provide that force it spends $ 3 million on salaries, $ 200,000 on vehicle costs, and $ 300,000 on supplies.
The police force expects to have 7,000 measurable actions, consisting of 1,000 arrests, 4,000 traffic citations, and 2,000 responses to emergency calls. It has noted that the average cost for each one of these actions is $ 429 if you simply divide the $ 3,000,000 department cost by the 7,000 specific individual actions. Some have argued that it is not cost- effective to give out traffic tickets, since the $ 429 cost per ticket exceeds the fine collected. The Georgeville Police Department is considering adopting a performance budget. The performance areas would be arrests, citations, and emergency responses.
It believes that activities related to making arrests consume 30 percent of salaries and 40 percent of sup-plies. Traffic citations consume 30 percent of salaries and 10 percent of supplies. Emergency response takes up 15 percent of salaries and 25 percent of supplies. Additionally, it performs many other activities that collectively take up 25 percent of salaries and 25 percent of supplies. It also estimates that their vehicles are used 25 percent for arrests, 30 percent for citations, and 5 percent for emergency responses. How much money is budgeted for each arrest, citation, and emergency response? Regardless of your answer, assume that the cost per traffic citation exceeds the average fine collected. Should the police cease issuing citations? Why?