Cities to Pay More for County Sheriff’s Policing

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday ordered an increase of up to 3.8% in the rate that 40 cities, including Compton, Santa Clarita and Palmdale, pay the Sheriff’s Department for policing.

The rate hike will produce up to $6.7 million to cover the cost of helicopters, computer systems and other support services the sheriff provides to cities that contract for police services, officials said. The decision, which came after months of lobbying and discussion with the cities and their supporters, follows a county analysis requested by Supervisor Gloria Molina that showed the county is subsidizing law enforcement in the contract cities by not passing along many of the costs associated with running the agency.

Supervisors, however, backed off from earlier proposals to charge the cities a share of such big-ticket items as the sheriff’s communications, narcotics and homicide units and the crime laboratory.

“This was fair for both sides,” Supervisor Don Knabe said in an interview. “The cities are our No. 1 customer and it was important we could come to some resolution.”

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky told his board colleagues that the increase had been whittled down so low it was embarrassing. In dire financial straits a year ago, the county had pondered passing along hundreds of millions in costs.

“This is a good deal for the cities,” Yaroslavsky said. “This is a good time for a good deal. This all started at a different time.”

For Compton, which pays $11.4 million each year for sheriff’s service, the rate increase will mean an extra $430,000 annually. Palmdale, which now pays $12.4 million, will bear the biggest increase, $466,000.

Knabe got his colleagues to approve an amendment that could potentially cut $500,000 of the increased tab if the sheriff opens more jails, now closed because of budget cutbacks.

David Spence, president of the California Contract Cities Assn., acknowledged the increase could have been higher. But he said ultimately some cities may not be able to afford the extra costs and may end up cutting the number of deputies they use to save money.

“We are never pleased when the costs of public safety increase and some will have to consider curtailing some law enforcement or other services,” said Spence, who is a La Canada Flintridge councilman.

“There is a misconception that we in the [contract cities] don’t pay for these services,” La Canada Flintridge Mayor Pro Tem Greg Brown said. “We all pay taxes to the county like everyone else.”

Mike Murphy, Santa Clarita intergovernmental relations officer, said his city faces a $400,000 jump. The increases will make for some hard budget decisions, Spence said.

Sheriff’s officials had warned that contract cities would consider establishing their own departments or reducing sheriff staffing, which could hurt the agency’s ability to react to a large-scale emergency. About 1,000 deputies police the 40 cities that now collectively pay $179.2 million annually for services.

“When the state gets problems they go after the county’s money. And then the county goes after the cities’ money. That’s what this is really about,” said Sam Olivito, executive director of the Contract Cities Assn., which represents the state’s municipalities that contract for services.