project

(address in the following way: Mayor, members of the council, and members of the public)

River City has a current Police Department with 40 officers sworn in and 30 non-sworn in personnel that operates on a year-round basis. Within three years, most of the police department will be eligible for retirement. There are several factors to consider such as:

· The history and knowledge of the police department will be gone in the next three years.

· How will that history be collected for the town and next generation to come?

· How are we preparing and training the next group of officers to continue the good work for the people?.

· How will we those that don’t qualify for retirement be allowed to keep the job they currently have with the police department?

· Will our local business be affected by outsourcing the police, since our town is a family.

Financial Impact: Financial Director-Andy

(address in the following way: Mayor, members of the council, and members of the public)

Benefits of contracting :

· Under the San Diego County Sheriff Department, there will be a 100% (40) absorption rate of all sworn officers and a 90% (27) absorption rate of non-sworn staff (to meet budget threshold).

· Staff taking the opportunity to retire as opposed to coming over with SDSD would only result in about a 30% absorption rate or 21 staff members. However, that said, SDSD would immediately utilize their resources to replace sworn/non-sworn staff as needed (subject to further negotiation and or contract modification) and services to the public would not be interrupted. Ensuring no gap in public safety and or enforcement.

· Moving forward all benefits including health, retirement and other associated benefits would be covered by the county.

Department to remain:

· If River City decided to keep the department in-house, with mass retirement, the city would have to replace all key staff members with the exception of 13 staff members, mainly due to budget constraints. Essentially, leading to a more depleted department/workforce. The sustainability of such actions could impact future operations, most importantly, public safety.

· The police chief contract would be terminated and a new recruitment will be underway. The time it would take to fill the position is unknown, and the deputy chief officer would have to assume an interim role.

· Massive budget cuts and major changes to administration would take place.

Fiscal Impact:

· In the initial year of contracting w/SDSD, FY 2020/2021, the department budget would run a small deficit in the amount $6,843.20 to cover the costs comparable to services provided. Total costs are set to come down an estimated 5% for FY 2021/2022 and another 3-5% for FY 2022/2023.

· CalPers unfunded liabilities remain at $997,404 for FY 2020/2021. With anticipated retirement, that is set to inflate to nearly $2.7 million, a 45% increase, heavily impacting the budget.

· Employees accepting an early retirement will be offered a 6 month severance package resulting in $1.5 million dollar one time buyout.

· Currently, the Chiefs salary is contracted at $185,000 a year . Depending on the circumstances, if the police chief is relieved of his duties, that could eliminate his salary until council has made the decision to hire another. Potentially saving this amount for the department for at least a year while the recruitment is underway. If contracted, a Captain would fill this role and is anticipated to cost, under the contract, $150,000 per year.

· Currently, there are 4 workman’s compensation claims under review. If those are approved and the officers are placed on leave, the budget could encounter an additional $292,000 expenditure.

Recommendations:

· Under the circumstances brought forth via the financial analysis, it is recommended that the city contract with the San Diego County Sheriff Department.

· This will result with the following:

· Structurally balanced budget for FY2021/2022 and anticipated surplus of $257,000

· No additional increases in unfunded pension liabilities. Once paid for, the city will no longer be responsible for pension costs.

· Allocation of benefit costs for the department will no longer be a fiscal impact.

· Assuming the workman’s compensation claims were to be accepted, the city would only be responsible for those claims and no future claims could be brought forth.

· Various research shows that the majority of cities with 40-50k residents have a contracted police department.

Recommendation: City Manager-Jessica

(address in the following way: Mayor, members of the council, and member of the public)

Following Dennis/Mayor-that is true but fiscally makes more sense-let’s turn it over: Andy

I’d like to thank my colleagues for their thorough presentation this evening. It is my belief that the information presented by...represents a fair and impartial view of the advantages and disadvantages of contracting out our River City Police Department. My staff have conducted a thorough fact checking of the data presented. As you’ll recall we began this review because we were losing money annually. As Andy has demonstrated, it is simply no longer cost effective to maintain our police department. Many other cities have made this transition and it has allowed them to…..

-address residents concerns supporting/against

References (everyone)