New pay system for east-metro public safety consortium

As crime numbers change in Ramsey County's suburbs, so does the amount of money that seven cities pay for law enforcement services from the Sheriff's Office, with a new sharing of costs coming in 2011.

"We're always trying to fine-tune fair portions of the cost for the services," said William Short, city clerk and treasurer for White Bear Township and Gem Lake, of the shared police department.

The Sheriff's Office responded to more than 25,000 calls in the cities in 2009, on issues ranging from animal control to weapons. Shoreview and Vadnais Heights, the two largest cities, accounted for 53 percent of the total calls that year. Gem Lake, the smallest municipality in the contract, accounted for just 1 percent. And Little Canada's population required nearly twice as many calls as White Bear Township, although more people live in the latter city.

As a result, Little Canada's fee for investigators will increase slightly this year, said city administrator Joel Hanson. Because of the city's proximity to Rice Street, Hwy. 694 and Hwy. 36, there's more movement in and out of the city, he said, which leads to more calls for service. In 2009, Little Canada accounted for the third most calls of the group, 17 percent of the total. In 2011, the city's share of the total $5.86 million budget will be the second highest, or about 18.5 percent.

"There's been strong enough documentation to show that it's appropriate we pay a higher percentage than we had in the past," Hanson said, "because we were putting greater demands on the service."

The Sheriff's Office provides law enforcement for about 75,000 residents in those five cities, in addition to North Oaks and Arden Hills. Previously, the cities split costs according to size of each city's area and population.

"A few years ago, we said, shouldn't some of the formula be based on the number of events happening in your community?" said Terry Schwerm, board chair and city manager for Shoreview.

The cities have already implemented a similar change in the funding formula for around-the-clock neighborhood and street patrols, he said. The shift was implemented over a two-year period, Schwerm said, to make sure no city was caught off-guard by a drastic change in monthly fees.

In Arden Hills, the City Council is raising questions about whether the city is paying its fair share for the level of service it receives, said Patrick Klaers, city administrator.

"We understand if we want more services, as a group that comes with a higher price tag," Klaers said. The council is justified, he said, in "wanting to do a check every once in a while and make sure that we're getting what we pay for."

In 2009, Arden Hills accounted for 13 percent of calls the Ramsey County sheriff's department responded to, the fourth highest amount of the seven cities. Increasingly, most of the calls require a two-squad response, which means a squad dedicated to another city will provide support for the lead squad in the city.

Similar cooperatives exist elsewhere in Minnesota, and in 1960, the founding cities borrowed the original idea from Los Angeles County.

The Sheriff's Office sets the annual fee for patrols, traffic services, crime prevention and investigations, said Commander Mike Salter. Each city is treated as a district and has at least one dedicated police squad.

The contract funds 34 full-time sworn deputies, split into patrol districts, three shifts a day. There are also five investigators and a supervisor, a crime prevention deputy, two traffic deputies and a handful of supervisors.

The relatively low crime rate in the area allows a leaner, more efficient staff, Salter said. The national average for staffing levels is 2.2 sworn officers for every 1,000 people, or about 150 officers for a population of 75,000.

Some of the cities, such as North Oaks and White Bear Township, add custom services to the contract. Short, of White Bear Township, said his city added part-time coverage on the weekends during the winter for Bald Eagle Lake for ice fishing and snow mobile control.