Some Saratoga residents backed renewing the city’s public service contract with the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office as councilmembers continued to keep their policing options open amid budget constraints.
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The city received an extension on its current contract with the sheriff’s office through Sept. 30. Under the county’s most recent proposal, Saratoga would have to pay $11.6 million to retain the level of service residents have enjoyed for last 70 years, which includes access to countywide resources, specialized investigative units, crime lab services and regional support capabilities. Currently, the city pays $9 million. Acting city manager Leslie Arroyo told the city council on June 3 that continuing to contract with the sheriff’s office could materially worsen Saratoga’s structural deficit and reduce capital investment, discretionary pension contributions and operational spending while increasing use of reserved funds.
“Tonight’s discussion is not simply about choosing a police provider,” Arroyo said. “It is about evaluating cost predictability, governance, service delivery philosophy and long-term financial sustainability.”
The Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department offered a different proposal. Starting July 2027, the city could choose to partner with their neighbors’ police department for a projected annual cost of $9.5 million with annual base rate increases between 3% and 8%. They offered comparable services to the sheriff’s office, including patrol, dispatch, investigations, specialty units, records management, emergency preparedness and school resource officers. The local police department is also technologically equipped with drones, body worn cameras and automatic license plate readers.
Monte Sereno Mayor Lon Allen spoke in support of his city’s police department at the council meeting. Monte Sereno has contracted with the department for the last 30 years, and Allen said he had not heard “anything but praise from residents about the level of service and look and feel of community policing,” and that they’ve been “very pleased” with their partnership.
“It’s different,” Allen said. “A county organization with hundreds and hundreds of officers is just different from a municipal one where you count the officers by the dozens, not by the hundreds.”
Los Gatos Town Manager Chris Constantin acknowledged that the costs of implementing the partnership are unknown. He anticipated that both the police department and Saratoga would need at least a year to transition, which would include dispatch integration, records management, radio operations, hiring and training additional officers, acquiring more fleet vehicles and even setting up a substation to accommodate the new beat area. County sheriff deputies already have an office at the Saratoga Prospect Center.
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While the police department prioritizes response times, service quality, community engagement and overall performance outcome, service from the county is based on purchased hours and staffing allocation. Constantin said a Saratoga substation would help make Saratoga “a meaningful part of the partnership.”
Despite the drawbacks, several Saratoga residents urged the council to continue the city’s partnership with the county sheriff’s office. During public comment, Patrick Rupert, a wine shop owner, said his customers valued the quick response times and feeling of safety they get from being served by the sheriff’s office.
There are currently 16 full-time deputies that patrol Saratoga, according to discussions during the city council meeting. To maintain current service levels from the county, Saratoga would have to pay for staffing for almost 26,000 hours. For $10.5 million, service hours drop to just under 22,000. For $9.5 million, the city would have to cut their school resource officer for around 17,740 service hours. Those decreases would mean losing 2.5 full-time employees per each $1 million reduction.
Ryan Hinchman, Saratoga’s administrative services director, said that even if the city cut staffing to reduce costs, it wouldn’t efffect the most pervasive costs, like investigations and records. Councilmember Belal Aftab acknowledged that reduced service levels would mean slower response times.
“The situation we’re in is not because of a quality of service problem,” said Aftab. “It’s a dire fiscal situation.”
Vice Mayor Tina Walia said she favors continuing with the sheriff’s office starting Oct. 1 for at least a year, but she’s not ready to pursue a long-term contract with the county due to the police department’s proposal. Mayor Chuck Page asked staff to return with more specifics on a $10.5 million contract with the sheriff’s office, which would be about 20% increase from the contract’s current cost.
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