Title
Sheriff's Office recommending the Board take the following actions relative to the purchase of essential equipment:
1) Hold a public hearing to use $49,586 of Citizen's Option for Public Safety (COPS) County Jail Operation funding to purchase unmet equipment needs as identified by the Sheriff, including fixed asset items of four Automatic External Defibrillators totaling $7,000;
2) Hold a public hearing to use $222,890 of COPS Front Line Law Enforcement funding to purchase unmet equipment needs as identified by the Sheriff, including fixed asset items of 2 Patrol Vehicle Lightbars totaling $4,000, 1 Mobil Data Collection device totaling $6,750, 1 Total Station to assist with crime scene investigations totaling $16,000, and to expand the Automated Vehicle Locator system to 52 additional vehicles at a total cost of $78,000.
3) Approve a budget transfer recognizing the COPS Jail and COPS Front Line Law Enforcement revenue and appropriations. (4/5 vote required). (Est. Time: 10 Min.)
FUNDING: Local Safety and Protection Account (LSPA).
Body
BUDGET SUMMARY: |
|
|
Total Estimated Cost |
|
$272,476 |
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|
|
Funding |
|
|
Budgeted |
$ |
|
New Funding |
$ |
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Savings |
$ |
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SLESF Special Revenue |
$272,476 |
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Total Funding Available |
$272,476 |
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Change To Net County Cost |
|
$0 |
Fiscal Impact/Change to Net County Cost: None. The attached budget transfer will allocate available funding within the Sheriff's budget for front line law enforcement and jail operations.
Background: Pursuant to current law, the State Controller is required to allocate the COPS funds to each county that has established a Supplemental Law Enforcement Services Fund (SLESF) in accordance with Section 30061 of the Government Code. Since its inception, the funding distribution for this program was based on the population of the County and each fiscal year was a predictable amount. In the 4th Quarter of FY 2008/09, the State changed the funding stream for this program to Vehicle License Fees (VLF), and as a result, it is difficult to predict the actual amount of funding that will be available each fiscal year. In addition, current law requires that these funds cannot be used to "supplant" any county obligations.
Reason for recommendation:
The legislation that created the COPS program requires the Board to conduct a public hearing that is "separate and apart" from the adoption of the regular County budget.
Prior to FY 2009/10, the Sheriff allocated the "Front Line Law Enforcement" dollars toward funding permanent, full-time Deputy Sheriff positions and the "Jail Operations" funding went toward inmate food expenses or building maintenance. Due to the uncertainty of the level of VLF revenue in FY 2009/10, the Sheriff used funds allocated to "Front Line Law Enforcement" and "Jail Operations" to cover overtime expenses that were not approved in the FY 2009/10 budget. Beginning in Fiscal Year 2011/12, the Sheriff's Office began using COPS funds to purchase essential equipment for the jail and front line law enforcement.
Recently, the Sheriff's Office identified the equipment listed above as essential to day to day operations and needs to purchase the equipment as quickly as possible. To avoid delays, the Sheriff's Office would like to immediately begin the purchasing process for each of these items. Any funds that are not spent prior to June 30, 2012, will be re-budgeted in FY 2012/13 during the addenda process.
Approval of these recommendations will also allow the Sheriff's Office to purchase additional equipment to supplement front line law enforcement and jail operations.
In addition, pursuant to Government Code Section 30061(h), funds received pursuant to this subdivision shall be expended or encumbered no later than June 30th of the following fiscal year. A local agency that has not met this requirement shall remit unspent SLESF moneys to the State Controller. In order to remain compliant with the supplanting policy the County is responsible for returning SLESF revenue received in FY 2009/10 that was not spent prior to June 30, 2011.
Approval of this recommendation will allow the Sheriff's Office to return $150 in Front Line Law Enforcement funds and $6,546 in Jail funds to the State. There is no impact to Net County Cost since these funds remain unspent in the appropriate Special Revenue Fund.
Action to be taken following Board approval:
1) The Auditor will post the attached budget transfer increasing budgeted revenues and appropriations to the Sheriff's FY 2011/12 budget.
Contact: Don Ashton - x. 5691