By Sara StrongRock County is sending its own interpretation of law enforcement numbers to the city of Luverne.Administrator Kyle Oldre said he and other county staff tried to "accurately present the issues" in the presentation Tuesday.The Luverne City Council has offered five options it thinks the county should consider in changing how it charges for law enforcement and dispatching services.The city has said it pays too much of the county’s cost for services. The county says the city is getting a fair rate.Rock County will share its data with the city, and both will try to come to a conclusion on the contracts.The county’s take The figures (as in the accompanying graphic) were collected from city administrators and clerks. They all include revenues, use 2002 populations, include dispatch if they pay for it and factor in building rent.Worthington’s law enforcement cost, for example, includes a bond payment for its facility that will be in place for 20 years. (Worthington’s cost per person without the bond payment would be about $155.)"There is a reason we selected these cities; we didn't just throw a dart at the map," Oldre said.He said that the county seats in the region represent similar, rural locations and economic conditions.Oldre said he was confident in the methods used to calculate the per capita cost. Previously, the city reported numbers such as the city of Windom paying $0.77 for dispatch costs. Oldre said that he asked follow-up questions and found that dispatching in Windom didn't include recordkeeping like Rock County does. Recordkeeping, rent and dispatching equipment in Windom's law enforcement budget are different line items.The city began looking into all its contracts in a year of tight budget forecasts. The county is protecting its budget in the same way, as it also expects the state to set levy limits.Population demands Sometimes the county and city will refer to city residents as paying 60 percent of law enforcement costs, including what Luverne taxpayers pay to both the city and county.The county has said it uses that number, but doesn’t necessarily agree with the philosophy of counting tax dollars on top of fees, because all cities with a contract pay a fee and county taxes.Luverne makes up 47 percent of the county’s population, and makes up 56.6 percent of the department’s calls for service.Taking out burn permits, which city residents don’t use, Luverne actually gets 63.5 percent of the department’s time. So the county says Luverne’s getting exactly what it pays for.Commissioner Richard Bakken said, "I think the burn permits are a moot point; you don't call an officer to get a burn permit."Cost of service The Tuesday presentation to the commissioners was in reaction to the five options the city asked Rock County to consider.Luverne’s options sent to the county assumed the same level of service would remain in place, even though it would cut dispatch and law enforcement payments to the county by about $300,000 to $400,000.Considering the total law enforcement and dispatching budget is about $1 million, the county says losing Luverne’s fees to that extent would mean service cuts. In theory, if the level of service remained, as it is today, Luverne would go from paying for 50 percent of the cost of law enforcement to between 17 and 32 percent, if the county accepted one of its options.Luverne came to those numbers because the county is obligated to provide a basic service even without its contract.The county board didn’t make a decision or discuss the options in detail, but commissioners generally said Luverne’s proposals can’t work. If Luverne won’t pay more of the contract cost, Rock County will likely reduce the service it offers through the Sheriff’s Department.Calls for things such as dog or cat nuisances or other misdemeanors probably wouldn’t be addressed by officers. Dispatchers would determine if the call was a priority for "keeping the peace" as fewer officers worked the entire county. Officers also would stop doing city functions such as opening park gates and public restrooms.Commissioner Jane Wildung said that previously, she thought that the city wanted more service and was willing to pay for it. "It was just a year ago," she said, "that we went through these heart-wrenching community meetings. Things were happening involving children and people wanted us to beef up service and get more arrests."Bakken said, "If you don’t remember the past, you are condemned to repeat it — and it wasn’t too long ago that we had big problems here. We don’t want to go back to that." The city also proposed that a committee evaluate law enforcement. County Attorney Don Klosterbuer said, "We just started it. We had a cross-section of local people discussing it in 1996 and ‘97."The county said in a statement: "In 1996/1997 a task force comprised of members representing the city council, county board, Sheriff’s Department, City Police Department, citizen representatives, and appointed officials worked together to determine the most equitable funding basis for law enforcement. This was accomplished through careful considerations of all aspects of law enforcement, including, but not limited to: service expectations, current costs, additional non-traditional expenses for each party, i.e., board of prisoners, crossing guards, configuration of department, etc." Wildung said that the city of Luverne has had a long history of paying for law enforcement, forming a police department as the city was founded."If it wanted all of Rock County to pay so it could have the service, that’s a decision that should’ve been made in 1867, not 2004."
