Sheriff Seeks to Increase Rates Charged for Patrol Deputies

Update:  Riverside County supervisors signed off May 6 on a sheriff's department request to hike the rates charged to cities and other contract entities for the use of patrol deputies and other personnel.

The rate increases will be retroactive to July 1, 2013, and are needed to recoup higher operational costs incurred by the department over the past year, according to sheriff's officials.

Original story published May 6, 2014:

Riverside County supervisors are expected to approve Tuesday a sheriff's department request to hike the rates charged to cities and other contract entities for the use of patrol deputies and other personnel.

The proposed rate increases would be retroactive to July 1, 2013, and are needed to recoup higher operational costs incurred by the department over the past year, according to sheriff's officials.

Under the revised rate schedule, the cost of a sheriff's patrol deputy will rise from $132.69 per hour to $139.29 -- a 4.97 percent jump from the previous fiscal year.

The increase reflects higher labor expenses and the costs associated with support functions, including supervisors and administrators. Staff benefits are also priced into the figures.

Higher extra duty pay rates for other sworn and non-sworn personnel were included in the revised rate schedule. According to sheriff's officials, cities and other contracting parties would only be billed for those expenses if they chose to expand their public safety staffs beyond the number called for under their law enforcement services agreements.

According to the schedule, the cost of an additional sheriff's patrol corporal would increase from $141.15 per hour to $148.08 per hour, or about 4.9 percent; an additional sheriff's investigator from $73.17 to $79.73 per hour, or 9 percent; an additional sergeant from $89.45 to $91.60 per hour, or 2.4 percent; and an additional captain from $116.23 to $118.33 per hour, or 1.8 percent.

In a few instances, costs for contingency personnel would go down. The hourly rate of a sheriff's investigative technician would fall from $41.20 to $40.73 per hour, a 1.1 percent drop; and an accounting assistant from $27.69 to $27.22 per hour, down 1.7 percent.

According to sheriff's documents, nine cities and three community services districts will be required to pay increased sums for the sheriff's use of facilities dedicated to servicing the communities.

The sheriff's department says the heftier bills generally stem from county Department of Facilities Management costs to maintain stations, including lights, waterworks, landscaping and custodial operations. The sheriff initially carries the expenses, then passes them on to the contracting parties, each of which is invoiced in proportion to how much it consumes.

The largest percentage increase in facilities costs would be borne by Eastvale, which faces a $116,353 bill, compared with $96,253 the previous year - - an approximately 21 percent jump that sheriff's officials attributed to depreciation charges on the station constructed to serve the area.

The city of Perris will bear the highest facilities fee in dollars and cents: $528,740, up from $495,714 the previous fiscal year.

– City News Service.