AURORA CITY COUNCIL TO MULL MORE FUNDS FOR VICTIM ASSISTANCE

AURORA - A proposal to shift $1 in each violation assessed in
Municipal Court from the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program to
the Victim Assistant Law Enforcement Training Program will be
discussed by Aurora City Council members at a Monday study session.

The study session is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Aug. 23 at the Aurora
Municipal Center.

Members of the Public Safety and Courts Committee agreed the DARE
program funding should be reduced from $5 per violation to $4 per
violation and funding for the VALET program should be increased from
$12 to $13 per violation to meet a growing need in the Victim Services
Unit. The additional funds will be used to add one additional full
time victim advocate, increasing VALET's staff to six full time employees.

The VALET program provides crisis intervention and support services
for victims of violent crimes.

The proposal is meant to reduce an unused surplus in the DARE account
and meet an increasing demand for VALET department services.

An amendment to the city's new job incentive program, which would
increase the salary threshold required to apply for the program, is
also slated for discussion. The item was scheduled to be discussed at
the Aug. 9 meeting but council members weren't able to discuss the
matter because of time constraints.

The proposed changes increase the required job salary threshold to
$40,000 per year, up from $35,000 per year, exclusive of benefits, and
caps the maximum number of jobs that can be rewarded to 20.

By capping the maximum number of jobs to 20, the largest amount of
money that could be awarded per employer is $100,000 per year, in
addition to any other incentives for either school-to-career education
credits or equipment reimbursement credits.

Council members will also discuss a resolution to formally oppose
three ballot initiatives that would limit debt and cut back taxes.