Countywide : Cities to Pay More for Sheriff’s Services
The Ventura County Board of Supervisors has approved a 6% increase in fees that the Sheriff’s Department charges five cities for police protection.
The supervisors approved the increase this week after Assistant Sheriff Richard S. Bryce assured the board that the fee hikes reflect only the department’s increased costs of providing police services in Ojai, Moorpark, Fillmore, Camarillo and Thousand Oaks.
“We advised the cities back in the spring to anticipate a 7% contract raise,” Bryce told the board.
The increase covers higher costs for salary and benefits, insurance, training, office supplies and dispatch services, officials said.
The increase raises from about $390,000 to nearly $410,000 the annual cost of staffing one patrol car for 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
It takes nearly five people to continually staff a patrol car, considering time away for sick leave, vacation, court testimony and training, officials said.
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