Assignment:
Group Project/Staff Report
Assignment:
• Generate a staff report between 3 to 5 pages in length to the River City Town Council recommending either SUPPORT or OPPOSITION to the Town's consideration of contracting out police services.
• Prepare statements in support or opposition to contracting out police services These statements will be from the perspective of:
• The Mayor
• The City Manager
• The Union representative for the police department staff
• A resident of River City
Prepared as you are going to speak at the River City Public Hearing, scheduled for March 4, 2020. Each team member will select a role as stated above for the hearing.
• Facts:
• The Town of River City is a small, low-income, rural, retirement community of under 40,000 people. The Town incorporated (became a city/town) 25 years ago.
• At incorporation, the Town formed its own Police department - believing that it would provide for better service than contracting with the county. The Police department currently has a sworn staff of 40 officers and 30 non-sworn personnel.
• Most of the police department (senior officers, management) are within 3 years of retirement. The Chief is 55 years of age.
• The Town participates in the CalPERS retirement system, with a 3% @50 retirement benefit for current employees. Current employees don't contribute anything towards the cost of their retirement. The Town has implemented pension reform such that all new employees are enrolled in the 2.0%@55 retirement benefit;
• The new City Manager has examined the financial records of the police department and is concerned that it is losing money on an annual basis. He hired an outside consultant, over the objections of the police union and the Chief, to examine the cost effectiveness of outsourcing police services. A staffing audit is underway.
• The Mayor's son-in-law is the Police Chief and he has publically defended the integrity of the man who married his daughter. The Mayor has scheduled a Public Hearing for March 4th. He is going throughout the community raising fear among the Town's senior citizens that the new Town Manager wants to contract police services which will increase crime and fear within the community.
Question to be addressed:
• There really are only two options for the Town to consider:
• Contract for Police Services with the County Sheriff
• Keep the service in house.
• Report needs to document the current audit information on the police dept. (a cut of 13 positions) to do this, you will need to create staff report researching options for the council.
Strategies for each option:
• Contracting Out -
• Employees could be offered early retirement incentive / severance package -assume that each of the employees would accept an early retirement incentive of 6-months pay;
• Police Chief will not be offered incentive - he is an at-will employee and will be given the option to retire with dignity or be released (with cause: mismanagement);
• Council will need to authorize a contract proposal (schedule 1) from the Sheriff Dept.
• Retaining the department -
• Chief of police is terminated for cause (no severance)
• The City will have to recruit a new police Chief
• Current retirement costs are 25% of salary (paid to CalPERS). The employees contribute 0% to those costs. The Town is negotiating with the current union and is pushing employees to cover 8% of those costs. Assume that is accepted to keep the service in-house;
• New employee retirement cost is 10% of salary (paid to CalPERS) and new employees will pick up ½ those costs;
The staff report should evaluate both of these options and come up with the financial impacts of each of the decisions.