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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDA REPORT 2009 0401 CC REG ITEM 10D <":ITY OF MOORPARF1_UAi_ ":".._._ City Council Meeting of 4-1-Ano ACTION: —SO�o 0 D BY: k- Y - Mlbd. � MOORPARK CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT TO: Honorable City Council FROM: Ron Nelson, Captain DATE: March 18, 2009 (CC Meeting of 4/1/09) SUBJECT: Consider Resolution Authorizing the Ventura County Sheriff's Department to Apply for Grant Funds from the United States Department of Justice's Community Oriented Policing Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP) Grant on Behalf of the City of Moorpark to Assist in Paying for the High School Resource Officer SUMMARY The United States Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) has recently announced the availability of funding under the COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP). The COPS Office will receive the funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to address the personnel needs of state, local, and tribal law enforcement. Application materials are scheduled to be available before the end of March, with the grant application process open until mid-April. This resolution, if approved, will authorize the Ventura County Sheriffs Department to apply for funding through the COPS CHRP grant to assist in paying for the High School Resource Officer position in the City of Moorpark (City) for the next three years beginning in fiscal year 2009/2010. DISCUSSION CHRP is a competitive grant program that provides funding directly to law enforcement agencies having primary law enforcement authority to create and preserve jobs and to increase their community policing capacity and crime-prevention efforts. Up to $1 billion in grant funding will be available for the hiring and rehiring of additional career law enforcement officers. There is no local match requirement for CHRP, but grant funding will be based on current entry-level salary and benefits packages, and therefore any additional costs for higher salaries or benefits for particular individuals hired will be the responsibility of the grantee agency. CHRP grants will provide 100 percent funding for approved entry-level salaries and benefits for 3 years (36 months) for newly-hired, full-time sworn officer positions (including 11100056 Honorable City Council April 1 , 2009 Page 2 filling existing un-funded vacancies), or for rehired officers who have been laid off, or are scheduled to be laid off on a future date, as a result of local budget cuts. In addition, there is no cap on the number of positions an agency may request, but awards will be limited to available funding. The grant covers an initial 3-year period, after which the City would be required to continue funding the officer positions awarded. At the conclusion of federal funding, grantees must retain all sworn officer positions awarded under the CHRP grant. Under the grant program guidelines, the City of Moorpark does not meet the requirements to be able to apply for these funds, as applicants who contract with another agency for law enforcement services are not eligible. Therefore, the Ventura County Sheriffs Department would be the appropriate agency to apply for the grant funds, with the funds being used to cover the cost for the City. The Sheriff's Department is currently applying on behalf of three other contract cities in Ventura County. Although the City has yet to complete its budget process for the upcoming fiscal year 2009/2010, including the specific funding of specific positions within the Police Department, the timing of the grant application process requires that an application be made within a short timeframe from March 16th through April 14th, 2009. Several possible programs and positions have been identified, based on increased workloads and forecasted budget constraints within the Police Department. These include new positions such as a Detective or Middle School Resource Officer, and retaining potentially cut positions such as the High School Resource Officer. The identified positions are in no way solidified and it is understood that other solutions may materialize during the upcoming budget process. We also looked at the option of increasing the two 40 hour cars to an 84- hour car but it is not eligible for funding. It is projected that two positions within the Police Department could be cut next fiscal year (2009/2010) based on a projected lack of available funding. These positions are the High School Resource Officer and the DARE Officer. The Moorpark Unified School District has not paid any portion for these positions in recent years, and has indicated it will not be able to fund the positions next year. For the current fiscal year, the City transferred $402,000 from the Traffic Safety Fund to the General Fund to fund a portion of the law enforcement contract. This allowed for the continuation of both the DARE officer and the High School Resource Officer without any MUSD funding support. It is projected that the Traffic Safety Fund will not have sufficient funds to make a similar fund transfer to pay for these positions in next year's budget (2009/2010 F`). The City would be able to keep at least one of these positions by use of the CHRP Grant. FISCAL IMPACT Due to the City's over-headed contract costs for services through the Ventura County Sheriff's Department, any grant funds received would not completely cover the total cost of an officer position for the City. According to the Sheriff's business office, entry-level salary and benefits for a Deputy Sheriff are projected to be $132,159 for next fiscal year. With o00057 Honorable City Council April 1 , 2009 Page 3 the overhead costs in contracting for police services, it is projected that the City will pay approximately $198,220 for a position equivalent to a detective or school resource officer next fiscal year. This means the city would have to cover the remainder $66,061 if one of these positions is sought. Over the three-year life of the grant, this figure would be approximately $205,000 after factoring in projected cost of living for the final two years. An additional one-time Byrne-JAG grant, through the Office of Justice Assistance, in the U.S. Department of Justice, has also been offered, and the City is pre-qualified to receive $20,761 in grant funds. These funds are eligible to be used to assist in paying the City's portion not covered by the HSRA grant, bringing the City's first year portion down to $45,300, and the three-year total at $184,239. After the grant ends, the City would be required to fund the full cost of any position funded through the grant period. The grant involves a competitive process, so there is no guarantee that the City will receive the funds. If the City decides, during the upcoming budget process, not to accept the grant funds, the City can do so with no reprisal from the Sheriffs Department or the United States Department of Justice. The funds would then be used by the Sheriff's Department for other positions in the County. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Adopt Resolution No. 2009 , authorizing the Ventura County Sheriff's Department to apply for the COPS Hiring Recovery Program grant to pay for the High School Resource Officer. Attachments: Draft Resolution ()0()058 RESOLUTION NO. 2009- A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MOORPARK, CALIFORNIA, AUTHORIZING THE VENTURA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT TO APPLY FOR GRANT FUNDS FROM THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE'S COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING HIRING RECOVERY PROGRAM GRANT ON BEHALF OF THE CITY OF MOORPARK TO ASSIST IN PAYING FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER WHEREAS, a staff report has been presented to the City Council requesting the Council to authorize the Ventura County Sheriff's Department to apply for grant funds from the United States Department of Justice's Community Oriented Policing Hiring Recovery Program grant on behalf of the City of Moorpark, NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MOORPARK DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1 . The Ventura County Sheriff's Department is authorized to apply, on behalf of the City of Moorpark, for grant funds from the United States Department of Justice's Community Oriented Policing Hiring Recovery Program to assist in paying for the Moorpark High School Resource Officer. SECTION 2. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this resolution and shall cause a certified resolution to be filed in the book of original resolutions. PASSED AND ADOPTED this 1 st day of April, 2009. Janice S. Parvin, Mayor Attest: Maureen Benson, Assistant City Clerk 00009