Countywide : Sheriff Raises Rates for Serving 5 Cities

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department received approval Tuesday to raise the rates it charges five cities for law enforcement services.

The county Board of Supervisors approved a 5% to 6% increase in the amounts that the department charges the cities annually for patrolling streets and providing other law enforcement services.

Under the new rates, the Sheriff’s Department will bill Thousand Oaks an estimated $8.2 million; Camarillo, $3.8 million; Moorpark, $2.1 million; Fillmore, $1.1 million; and Ojai, $1.1 million, said Bob Riggs, business manager for the department.

Riggs said the rates were increased to reflect higher salaries from labor agreements reached last year, as well as a 75% increase in workers’ compensation rates.

The new rates are retroactive to July 1, 1992, causing budget problems for some cities because they are already halfway through the fiscal year.

The cities budgeted for an increase based on projections from the Sheriff’s Department, but the jump in workers’ compensation rates caused the rates to go higher than anticipated, Riggs said.

In Camarillo, the increase means that the city will have to come up with $84,000 more than was budgeted this fiscal year, said Assistant City Manager Larry Davis.

Moorpark city officials will be studying how to come up with another $36,000 because of the rate increase, said Deputy City Manager Richard Hare.

The rate increase means that Ojai will pay about $13,000 more than expected, but the amount can be accommodated within the city’s budget, said City Manager Andy Belknap.

Fillmore City Manager Roy Payne also said the increase is within his city’s budget.