Six months after a gruesome quadruple homicide rocked the small city of Moscow, Idaho, the bill for the police investigation into the killings is coming due — and local leaders and residents alike are bracing for impact.
Following the high-profile murder of University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapina, a major US outlet reported Sunday that overtime, as well as the city’s other expenses, are "growing exponentially."
The slayings saw a 28-year-old criminology Ph.D. student named Bryan Kohberger indicted on four counts of first-degree murder, but even before a major investigation was launched into the Kohberger's crimes, Moscow had long been facing serious financial shortfalls.
Local officials noted that, with an annual $7.2 million price tag, the police department’s budget already exceeded the $6.9 million in property taxes brought in each year. The outlay reportedly comprises just over a third of the city’s yearly expenditures.
"We weren't prepared for this," Moscow City Council member Sandra Kelly told US media. “This is such a horrific thing - how could you plan for this? You budget for fires. You budget for floods. You prepare for natural disasters. This was not natural."
"The cost is astronomical. And of course you can't skimp on keeping people safe," Kelly explained.
But “this is just not something you budget for,” she said, “because it's something you'd never dream could happen."
She wasn’t the only local politician to express worry about the city’s financial affairs.
"Moscow is not awash in a funding excess," Moscow Mayor Art Bettge told US media, adding, "we run a very, very lean budget and the impact of the investigation has been felt on the budget."
Bettge said the city has faced a "difficult six months" since last November, when police discovered four students had been stabbed to death at their off-campus house. Kohberger was arrested in connection with the crime at his family’s home in Pennsylvania over a month later.
Following the recent indictment against him, the suspect is expected to enter a plea at an arraignment slated for Monday.