NORTHWEST : Cities Hope to Save by Sharing Services

This fiscal year Cypress, Seal Beach, La Palma and Los Alamitos collectively lost more than $1 million due to newly imposed county fees.

The cities were hit hard last year when the county started charging them a $154 booking fee for every prisoner sent to County jail. In addition, the cities were charged for property tax assessments, a fee that had also been absorbed by the county previously.

City officials said they hope to plug at least some of that financial leak by sharing services where they can.

For these cities that are joined by common boundaries and have populations of less than 30,000, sharing services is not new but has become almost essential to their financial survival.

As the new fiscal year approaches, officials from all four cities said they will have to make cuts to come up with a balanced budget. Sharing services is one way to lessen the burden on individual cities without cutting services.

“All of us have this need to save money,” La Palma City Manager Pamela M. Gibson said. “There is nothing that is off limits in terms of discussion.”

Most recently, Seal Beach, Cypress and Los Alamitos agreed to share a court liaison who is responsible for setting up court dates in accordance with officer availability. By sharing a court liaison, each city will save at least $8,000, officials said. La Palma is not included in this agreement because it is not in the same Municipal Court jurisdiction.