FOR THE COUNCIL MEETING OF NOVEMBER 19, 2024
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
TO: City Council
FROM: Acting City Manager Chuen Wu
BY: Chief of Police Marc Schneider
SUBJECT: Adoption of a Resolution Approving Amendments to Agreements with Santa Maria Joint Unified High School District for Law Enforcement Services
Description:
The City Council will c onsider authorizing the City of Santa Maria to amend current agreements for Law Enforcement services between the Santa Maria Police Department and Santa Maria Joint Unified High School District.
RECOMMENDATION:
Adopt a Resolution approving a billing rate amendment to current agreements for law enforcement services between the Santa Maria Police Department and the Santa Maria Joint Unified High School District.
BACKGROUND:
The Santa Maria Police Department (SMPD) has provided S chool Resource Officers to school districts since 1997 when the first Challenge Grant was implemented to address truancy and juvenile offenders. Since that time School Resource Officers have been deployed to school districts on a regular basis. Starting wi th agreements for services in 2014, funding has been provided by the districts to recover the full cost of law enforcement services, including City and Police administrative costs. Due to the Covid -19 pandemic and the ensuing staffing crisis, SMPD was forc ed to place these services on hold in December of 2021, as the staff was needed to support operations in other areas. The department continued to work with the districts to provide supplemental law enforcement services on an as-needed basis for extracurricular activities if staffing was available.
SMPD was able to re -establish the program and contracted last year with Santa Maria Joint Unified High School District (SMJUHSD) and committed to providing two High School Resource Officers due to vigorous recr uitment and retention efforts. Additional School Resource Officers may be added at the request of the district and availability of staffing within SMPD.
2 DISCUSSION:
Since the current agreements were executed, the City has amended its billing rates. The current agreements’ terms automatically impose updating billing rates when published by Finance; however, this amended billing rate is the first update since February 2021, resulting in a significant increase of 80.3%. The school district has indicated it is unable to absorb an increase of that magnitude in its current budget. Recognizing the importance of this program, while being mindful of budget limitations, the SMPD would like to amend the agreements to allow use of the grant billing rate rather th an the outside billing rate.
The proposed rate would increase the current billing rates by 28.3% but would not recover the City of Santa Maria’s full cost of providing the service.
SMPD believes there is value in subsidizing SMJUHSD for these services. This amended agreement will benefit the community by allowing the City to continue to provide School Resource Officers on campuses and provide additional law enforcement services to the district that will meet the needs of both parties. SMPD and the district realizes the mutual benefit of these services and the importance of providing and maintaining a safe campus environment free from drugs, alcohol, violence, gang activity, truancy, and trespassing by non-students.
Alternative(s)
The alternative would be to not amend the agreements with the school district to provide law enforcement services, resulting in the possible reduction or elimination of the School Resource Officer program at this time due to budgetary constraints. This would result in an unanticipated loss of projected revenue to the City of up to $354,787.
If the agreements are not amended, the SMPD is still obligated to respond to calls for service at the district campuses, however, the City will not be reimbursed for those services.
Fiscal Considerations
The proposed terms of the amended agreements will reimburse the City for the services provided using the current grant billing rates provided by the Finance Department rather than the current outside billing rates. The estimated difference between the grant billing rate and outside rate for the 2024 -25 school year is $143,770. The grant billing rate s cover the full cost of the law enforcement personnel services and the Police Department’s administrative costs, but only some of the City’s overhead costs. The City’s total overhead costs are included in the outside billing rate.
The service expectations and formula costs will be reviewed annually by the Chief of Police and the respective school boards, with recommended adjustments submitted to each respective governing board for approval.
The cost for City -provided services is based on the minimum service levels desired by the district. Additionally, the SMJUHSD also agrees to pay overtime costs associated with events outside the scope of the regular school day.
3 Impact to the Community
In addition to maintaining effective emergency response to the schools, the SMPD views the agreements as a valuable opportunity to continue to provide increased services to the school district. The district w ill benefit from an established police presence resulting in shorter response times, as well as the partnership established by the agreements.
Other Agency Review
Upon the Mayor’s execution of the SMJUHSD amendment on behalf of the City of Santa Maria, the amendment will be presented to the SMJUHSD School Board for approval and will become retroactively effective for the school year of 2024-2025.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: SMJUHSD Law Enforcement Services Agreement 2023-27 Attachment B: SMJUHSD Supplemental Law Enforcement Services Agreement 2023-27 Attachment C: SMJUHSD Amendment No. 1