South Bay cities stare down multi-million dollar hike in sheriff's costs

"In an alarming change that could force Cupertino, Saratoga and Los Altos Hills to slash millions of dollars from their budgets or raise local taxes, the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office is revamping a long-standing contract that provides those cities with public safety services. The new contract could potentially raise police costs for those jurisdictions by about a third through 2027. While the cities assert the contract changes came as a surprise with limited transparency, the county argues that policing has become far more expensive and that these municipalities must now pay for the true cost of the services."

""This is a serious and urgent situation for Cupertino as well as for Saratoga and Los Altos Hills," said Cupertino Mayor Kitty Moore at a special meeting on Thursday to discuss the contract. "The proposed cost increases are unacceptable." For years, the cities of Saratoga and Cupertino and the town of Los Altos Hills have contracted with the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office for public safety services because they don't have their own police forces. The three municipalities had a decade-long contract with the county until 2024 that was extended for two years, and is set to expire at the end of June 2026. As part of the contract, the cities saw costs climb steadily, at a rate of around 5% a year, said Cupertino city staff."

A revamped Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office contract could raise policing costs for Cupertino, Saratoga and Los Altos Hills by about one-third through 2027. The proposed hikes would represent multimillion-dollar increases for Cupertino and Saratoga and hundreds of thousands for Los Altos Hills, amounting to roughly 5%–10% of each municipality's total budget. The municipalities report surprise and limited transparency around the changes while the county contends rising policing costs require municipalities to cover true service costs. Contracts had previously seen steady increases of about 5% annually; the current proposal pressures tight budgets and raises the prospect of tax measures or deep cuts.

Read at The Mercury News