Three cities in Santa Clara County are questioning the cost of having the Sheriff’s Office continue to provide law enforcement duties within their boundaries.
The cities of Cupertino, Los Altos Hills, and Saratoga have been trying to hammer out a deal with the county since 2024, when an initial 10-year contract to have sheriff’s deputies patrol the cities expired. The term was extended for two years and has been extended for several weeks this year as the parties tried to resolve the dispute, according to Los Altos Hills City Council documents.
The cities hired an outside consultant to analyze the new five-year contracts, which proposed adjusting the cost recovery formula to end what the county said was its subsidization of the cities’ law enforcement.
The new contracts increased costs for the cities by at least 30%, or millions of dollars this fiscal year, to cover what the county says are the new realities of providing the service.
Los Altos Hills and Saratoga city officials decided to move forward with the new contract for now, but representatives for both cities said in emailed statements that they would continue to evaluate the contracts and the amounts identified by the consultant as the county’s responsibility.
Cupertino, meanwhile, is digging in and asking the county to reconsider taking on roughly $10.7 million in mostly administrative costs the consultant said the county should pay for.
“We have a fiduciary responsibility to our residents and taxpayers to ensure compliance with the law,” Cupertino Mayor Kitty Moore said in a statement. “We also recognize and appreciate the Sheriff’s deputies who serve Cupertino and provide our community with excellent public services every day, for decades, and want to continue this excellent service model with a legally compliant contract.”
Moore said the city provided the study to the county and asked the county Board of Supervisors to review it.
Who pays for the service?
But Santa Clara County Executive James Williams said the previous agreements were costing the county money he said it had no obligation to cover. He said it was the cities’ role to provide the cost of law enforcement for their residents, not the county’s.
“The Sheriff’s Office has provided contract law enforcement services to Cupertino, Los Altos Hills, and Saratoga under agreements that no longer reflect the true cost of delivering those services, resulting in substantial County General Fund subsidies,” Williams said in a statement. “The County is not responsible for police services within cities and cannot continue contracts that do not achieve full cost recovery.”
He said he was glad the other two cities had accepted the new arrangement after initial pushback. The current contract extensions expire at the end of September.
Los Altos Hills Mayor Rajiv Bhateja said the city approved the new contract at its meeting on Monday night.
“The County is not responsible for police services within cities and cannot continue contracts that do not achieve full cost recovery.”
James Williams, Santa Clara County Executive
He said the decision was made partially to ensure there was no disruption in law enforcement service and to facilitate what he said was the county’s need to engage in collective bargaining with Sheriff’s Office employees.
“That said, our town continues to have major concerns about egregiously excessive overhead costs,” Bhateja said in an email. “As a condition of approving the contract, the council directed staff to continue having discussions with the county including the possibility of mediation.”
Saratoga, similarly, decided to move forward with an asterisk.
“At this time, Saratoga’s immediate priority is to ensure there is no disruption to law enforcement services for our community,” Mayor Chuck Page said in an email.
“After considering the available options, the City has decided to move forward with a five-year contract with the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office to provide continuity and certainty for our residents. Although the three cities may ultimately take different approaches to addressing the findings, Saratoga remains committed to working collaboratively with its partner cities and the County while ensuring reliable law enforcement services for Saratoga residents.”
Cutting costs
Saratoga was looking at an increase from about $8.7 million to $11.6 million under the new formula. The city decided to reduce deputies’ service hours to bring the cost down to about $10.6 million.
Page said the consultant identified overhead and administrative costs that raised questions about how the county was allocating certain items to the cities, but the report did not identify any specific costs that violated state law. He said the new contract includes language to ensure that any costs that are later identified as unlawfully allocated will be refunded to the city.
Cupertino city officials contend the county is unlawfully proposing to have the cities cover costs that would be incurred regardless of whether the cities were contracted, including paying for countywide administrative functions, investigative headquarters and specialized units, records, personnel and training costs, fiscal administration and IT services, according to a statement from the city.
Cupertino’s annual cost in the coming year would increase from about $19 million to $25.4 million. The City Council held a closed session Tuesday to discuss its legal options.
The city also said in a statement that the county has not been transparent about the cost breakdown.
Williams, the county executive, said Cupertino should join the other two cities and sign the agreement.
“While Cupertino has been engaged in brinksmanship over this most essential city responsibility, the County remains willing and ready to enter into the proposed agreement,” he said. “The City is, of course, free to pursue any alternative for fulfilling its responsibility to provide law enforcement services to its residents.”
Los Altos Hills will see an increase from about $2.8 million to $3.4 million this fiscal year. Future amounts are not fixed under the county’s formula and could vary.
Saratoga will hold several public meetings in upcoming weeks to determine if it wants to explore other options for law enforcement, such as partnering with the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department.
The first public hearing on the subject will be at the Saratoga City Council meeting on Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. at Saratoga Civic Theater.