The Town of Fountain Hills’ law enforcement contract with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) expires at the end of the current fiscal year (June 30), so officials have been working toward a new intergovernmental agreement (IGA) for services. Town Council received an update on the progress of discussions at its Feb. 28 planning retreat.

Some council members believe the Town has overpaid the county for services that were not received primarily due to personnel shortages. They want that issue resolved with compensation before going forward with a new agreement. This was an issue that former Councilman David Spelich raised concerns about numerous times during his council term. Spelich is a former Chicago Police officer and still works in law enforcement.

Town Manager Grady Miller told the council that the county disagrees with the assessment that services covered under the existing contract were not provided. He said the Town might consider being more specific in personnel and services expected in a new agreement where annual review could result in some reimbursement.

Councilman Gerry Friedel said he respects the judgement of Spelich and asked for a legal consultation during a closed executive session to discuss the issue.

Councilman Allen Skillicorn said if this could be millions of dollars it would be worth pursuing.

“I haven’t seen details, but based on Councilman Spelich’s experience it raises some concern,” Skillicorn said.

Last year the Town hired the firm of Matrix Consulting to evaluate services the Town is receiving from MCSO and make recommendations for updates. The independent auditing firm of Heinfeld, Meech & Co. was also hired to review the contract. Based on information in these reports the Town has a list of items for discussion related to a new contract.

Other items being considered in the process include establishing staffing levels early in the process. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors needs to approve any agreement so it needs to be complete in enough time to process approvals before the new year.

As incentives, MCSO has approved pay increases as well as bonuses and incentives to improve recruiting and retention. The current fiscal year contract costs increased by 6% over the previous year. Considering the increase in staffing costs, the Town is anticipating a double digit increase in the upcoming fiscal year.

The Town is asking for an annual credit/offset mechanism in the agreement to reconcile annual charges. Since annual charges are “forecast” using prior year data, this option would reconcile differences to actuals at the end of the year.

The Town also wants the patrol District 7 to be dedicated to Fountain Hills. Currently the office includes personnel that patrol Rio Verde. The Town believes this would increase transparency in staffing and billing.

Town staff also wants a provision to implement monthly reports to increase visibility and allow comparisons of staffing, calls for service and investigation clearance rates.

With response time as the only existing performance measure in the IGA, the Town would like to develop additional performance standards.

Possible staffing changes could include an additional School Resource Officer, officially adding Deputy Service Aides (DSA) as a possible offset against the number of patrol deputies.

Councilwoman Brenda Kalivianakis said she has concerns that DSAs might be used in lieu of sworn deputies, reducing the ability for efficient use of law enforcement resources.

MCSO Capt. Larry Kratzer said he was an initial skeptic of the DSA program, but has now seen its advantages in freeing up sworn officers for additional duties. DSAs are used for follow-up paperwork on non-emergency complaints, assist deputies at emergency scenes with traffic control as well as freeing them from accident scenes more quickly.

Current MCSO staffing includes 19 patrol deputies, three sergeants, 2.55 detectives, 1.25 lieutenants, one school resource officer, one civilian clerical/office assistant and .75 captain. This is the equivalent of 3.8 beats. A single beat is a 24-hour, seven-day/week, 52 week posting.

There are currently no detectives based in Fountain Hills. MCSO has moved all detectives to a central posting location and dispatching them when needed in an area. This creates a situation where detectives are not familiar with the community, but also allows for more specialized investigators on each case. The Town would like to have detectives reassigned to the community.