Hayden council, safety commission workshop focuses on sheriff contract, overhead and vehicle ownership

Hayden City Attorney Fonda Jovic opened a July special workshop on a draft law enforcement services agreement provided by the county, saying the county'provided contract sets a basic template "you then city, you set your budget and you plug and play the level of service that you want built into that agreement." City and commission members spent the meeting working through negotiable items including level of service, overhead calculation, vehicle ownership and accountability.

Why it matters: Hayden has budgeted for outside law enforcement for the coming year and council members pressed for clearer contractual language and oversight to ensure the city receives the level of service it pays for. Officials flagged several financial and operational issues they want reworked before signing a one-year agreement.

Workshop discussion centered on three county options presented to the city. Jovic said the county'provided options include different mixes of deputies, supervisors and an overhead allocation; she described the county'approach as a plug-and-play model tied to the city'budget. Council and commission members repeatedly questioned why the county'proposal uses a 60% overhead figure in one option when other options use 40%.

Co…