CENTRAL - The Central Police Department chief said Thursday the mayor's proposed budget overestimates how much money it would take to operate the agency full-time.

Chief Roger Corcoran said he submitted three models for a full-time Central Police Department with budgets ranging from $3.2 million to $4.7 million, and start-up costs between $800,000 and $1.2 million.

However, Corcoran says that "information circulating suggests only one model available" that would require a $7 million annual budget and $13 million in start-up costs. He says that came from Mayor Wade Evans alone.

Corcoran also said some claim he's "pushing for a tax increase to fund" the full-time police department. He said that, instead, he wanted to "establish a local mayor's court to keep fine and citation revenue in Central" and that he wanted to allocate more of the existing budget to public safety.

This comes after Evans proposed a new contract with the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office to supplement the Central Police Department, which currently operates mostly part-time.

"The city of Central has been incorporated for more than 20 years, and it's time to make a decision about what we're going to do for law enforcement going forward," Central Police Department Investigator John Dauthier said. 

Evans claimed that getting a full-time police department doesn't solve the real problem. 

"It may be great for now, but in 15-20 years, what does it look like? What kind of burden are we putting on our citizens?" Evans said. "I don't believe that they can put together a full-time department for any amount of money that we can afford without some type of millage or some type of revenue generation."

Corcoran said he remains open to all options, including "continuing or expanding our contract with the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office."