At its last regular meeting, and a special meeting leading up to the July 28 adoption of the 2012-13 fiscal year budget, the council had mulled the city’s law enforcement services contract with the county Sheriff’s Department.
One of the scenarios council members considered was the elimination of a traffic deputy, a community resources deputy and the closure of the Buellton Sheriff’s substation, which would have saved the city an estimated $362,042 per year. Instead, most council members could only stomach the less severe option at a savings of $224,103 per year.
Councilman Ed Andrisek supported the less painful reductions, but he said the city needs to grow its revenue to avoid future cuts to its basic services and he added he would have liked to see some public facilities close rather than see more cuts to public safety.
“Something has to give somewhere, somehow,” he said. “But when something catches fire in town, I want Fire to be in there in full force. If we have a traffic catastrophe, I’d like to not be told we just don’t have the people, we’ve furloughed them. They’re gone.” Councilman Leo Elovitz echoed other council members in lauding the services provided by the Sheriff’s Department and said the decision to make any cut was not easy.
“It really stinks to make these kinds of decisions,” Elovitz said.
The substation, located next to Buellton’s public library and across the highway from City Hall, will stay opened on Tuesdays and Thursdays to the public. Deputies can still come and go at all times. The reduced hours will require residents to travel to the Lompoc Valley substation, 3500 Harris Grade Road, to handle issues such as tow releases and fee charges, said Lt. Brad McVay, who is also police chief in Solvang, home of the Solvang-Santa Ynez Valley substation, and head of the Lompoc Valley substation.
At an earlier meeting, McVay said the transition would take a couple weeks to develop signage to direct the public where to go.
The community resource deputy, a position held by senior deputy Kathi LeGault, focused on crime prevention programs, neighborhood watch and education for businesses, youth and parents, and works with school districts to enforce the recently passed truancy program. The deputy also attended special events, including those put on by the Buellton Recreation Center. Axing this position would save $68,000. A grant provided by the state Citizens’ Option for Public Safety program (or COPS) will allot $100,000 in funding to the position.
The traffic officer position, held by Deputy Win Smith, was spared. Smith, who has more than five years of service to the city and 33 total in law enforcement, dedicates most of his time near schools, known traffic hazard areas, and during special events, according to McVay. Cutting a traffic deputy would have saved the city an additional $90,911. The Indian Gaming Grant, which varies by the year, absorbs $116,000 of the $206,911 it costs to fund the position. If the city loses the grant money, it can redirect the COPS grant to fill the hole, city manager John Kunkel told the council.
McVay said at an earlier meeting that in 2011, traffic enforcement reduced traffic accidents by 45%, lowered the average vehicular speed to 8 miles below the speed limit and produced more than 900 citations, translating to $40,500 in revenue for the city. The city-owned 2007 BMW motorcycle is expected to cost $4,722 for maintenance in the next fiscal year.
Councilwoman Judith Dale voted against the rest of the council and backed the most severe cuts. She said she had heard from several members of the community, who said they were OK with cutting the traffic officer position. “I think it’s probably that people don’t want to get a ticket,” she said. “I don’t think it’s anything personal. We’ve just got to save some money. In terms of cost, Buellton is the highest in the county per capita for public safety for law enforcement services.
“I’m for scenario D,” she said, referring to the most drastic cuts. “It breaks my heart to say that because I love my law enforcement people, but I feel we are paying way too much for law enforcement.”
The city will maintain 4.71 full-time equivalent employees and continue to provide around-the-clock service through one deputy sheriff. The service also includes one-third of a senior deputy supervisor, one-third of a manager, the police chief and one-third of a detective.
Mayor Holly Sierra said the cuts would “leave a hole in our community” and she had reached out to Buellton Unified School District to keep LeGault’s position.
Police services were anticipated to cost $1.7 million – an increase of $81,267, or 4%, from the current year, which ended June 30. The total cost of a deputy sheriff is $206,911. It includes salary, retirement and health benefits, worker’s compensation, unemployment insurance, liability insurance and administrative overhead.
The city had faced a shortfall of $907,000 and had slashed nearly $245,000 from the proposed budget at a June 7 special meeting. General Fund spending is expected to be 5.9% higher (or $228,285) than in the last fiscal year.