Santa Rosa got an early start to its annual budget battles Tuesday, with some of the newest faces on the council driving a lengthy and often confusing debate about funding for next year’s Police Department budget.

The Santa Rosa Police Department lost more than 150 years of experience this year as nine veteran and high-ranking officers retired, some with nearly 30 years on the force.

Sonoma County law agencies have received about $1.4 million in state grants for traffic safety and drunken-driving enforcement.