By Patrick Tepoorten

The Rush City Council was the latest to express a degree of sticker shock at the proposed 2008 Chisago County Sheriff's Office hourly contract rates.

News of the potential increase, which could be as low as 6.6 percent and as high as 15.2 percent, caused Mayor Jim Ertz to express frustration with the county. "The trouble with the county is that they never get rid of people," he said, noting that when revenue dries up in the private sector, people get laid off. "It's hard to make sense of how things work down there," he concluded.

In informing cities of the 2008 rate increase, Sheriff Todd Rivard has actually provided cities with two rates, $43.95 on the low end (6.6 percent increase), and $47.50 on the high end (15.2 percent).

The lower rate, according to the sheriff, reflects increases in salary, fuel and administrative costs. Where things get more complicated is with the higher rate of $47.50 per hour.

That rate is based on decisions that are yet to be made by the county board regarding the Mobile Data Computer System (MDCS), an integrated, computerized, communication network that's installation has already been approved by the county.

Originally, the sheriff's office was approved to install 65 units in county squads, as well as North Branch and Wyoming city squads, at a rough cost of $1 million. However, the need for the county to purchase more expensive squad computers to accommodate mid-winter temperatures and cope with the dust and jarring of local gravel roads added approximately $3,000 in additional costs per unit as well as higher maintenance costs. With those additional costs, county funding was only enough to cover 35 county cars.

Now, the county board must decide whether to allocate more funds to cover the cost of Wyoming and North Branch squads or to have the two cities cover the $18,000 installation and roughly $10,000 in annual maintenance costs on their own. According to county MICS director Jon Eckel, those figures reflect the cost of the entire system and the maintenance of it, divided by the 35 units already installed.

Board clerk Deanna Lillienthal said on Tuesday that the issue has been placed on the agenda for the Sept. 19 county board meeting. If the board, already trying to trim spending, decides to deny the funds to equip the two cities, the sheriff's office will quote the higher of the two contract rates countywide, which includes the cost of an MDCS broken down into an hourly rate.

According to Rivard, it is a matter of fairness - if the county does not fund North Branch or Wyoming, then it cannot fund any entity's equipment or maintenance. So, in short, the higher contract rate reflects charges for the installation and maintenance of an MDCS unit for one year.

Complicating the board's decision will be a request by Lakes Area Police Department (LAPD) to be included in the system. Again it is a matter of fairness - if the county funds North Branch and Wyoming, it would be hard pressed to deny funding to yet another county law enforcement agency. But LAPD's 12-plus squad cars, on top of North Branch's 12 and Wyoming's six, would increase the needed funds exponentially. Rivard also noted that if LAPD becomes a part of the system the county would likely have to expend additional funds to expand the network server capacity.

It remains to be seen if the county is prepared to absorb these costs when it is already trying to cut the budget.

Despite the cost, and overruns, Rivard remains a strong advocate of the system, which he said will more than pay for itself over time through efficiency. For instance, the time needed for an officer to produce citations is greatly reduced, and entered information automatically goes to the necessary county agencies. As well, officer and clerk time is greatly reduced in compiling reports, and communicating reports. "It's a good bang for the buck," said Rivard.

True though that may be, right now what cities are seeing is the increased cost of doing business with the sheriff's office. "I thought this system was supposed to be saving money, not costing money," said Ertz on Monday night.