Wareham Police will get paychecks this week, after the Finance Committee on Wednesday approved a $49,000 transfer from the town's reserves to fund police salaries.

A number of unforeseen issues during this fiscal year, which wraps up on June 30, have led to increased spending in the account through which the Police Department pays salaries, Town Administrator Derek Sullivan told the Finance Committee.

Illness and injuries have prompted officers to take extended leave, leading to overtime expenses to cover shifts. Additionally, two unanticipated retirements caused the town to have to pay for accrued time off, to the tune of approximately $60,000, Sullivan said.

"This week, the police salary [account] will officially go into deficit," Sullivan said, explaining that there is only approximately $53,000 left in the account, and weekly payroll is approximately $71,000.

The Finance Committee is allowed, by law, to OK transfers from reserve funds for "unforeseen or extraordinary" circumstances. Members agreed that this particular situation fell into that category.

The total $49,297 transfer will leave 87 cents in the reserve fund.

With the Finance Committee's OK, the Police Department will make payroll this week, but is not entirely out of the woods.

Right now, the predicted total deficit by the end of the fiscal year is approximately $236,000, but some of that is due to grant funds that the town knows it is getting and has not yet received, Sullivan said.

For the rest, Town Meeting voters will be asked to OK the transfer of unused money from other departments. Town Meeting reconvenes this Tuesday, June 18, at 7 p.m. in the Wareham High School auditorium

"We have those funds available in other departments so, at the end of the year, we do not anticipate anything being in deficit," Sullivan said.

Town officials realized in December that a problem in the Police Department salaries account was on the horizon and began taking measures to cut costs.

"However, whatever change we made," Sullivan explained, "for lack of a better term, we just kept getting kicked in the pants."

Police Chief Richard Stanley told the Finance Committee that he's had to have detectives on patrol.

"I've had to keep all my force on the road," Stanley said, noting that one detective is already out on an extended leave. "With two [detectives] down from six, we are not being proactive in seeking out the crime issues. ... We are being reactive."

The Finance Committee was sympathetic to the unforeseen problems that arose, but stressed that it did not want to be put in the same position next year.

"I want us to be proactive. I don't want to wait until June-something to be sitting here talking about this," said Finance Committee member Larry McDonald.

Member Marilyn Donahue concurred.

"I don't want to be setting precedent. ... Every department can come to us and say, 'we need more money,'" she said. "The Police Department has been over budget three years in a row, so we're not budgeting realistically and we can't budget realistically."

Donahue said that she hoped continued cost-cutting measures will ensure that the Police Department does not end up with the same problem next year.

McDonald told the chief that cutting expenses is necessary: "After a few years of being a revenue problem, it's no longer a revenue problem. It's an expense problem."

Stanley thanked the committee for approving the transfer of funds.

"Believe me," he said, "I don't like this either."