Weber County sheriff says general fund is subsidizing contract cities, asks commissioners for 10–20 deputies to clarify allocations

Sheriff Ryan Harvont told the Weber County Commission during its April 28 work session that the county’s general fund and its contract cities are subsidizing each other because deputies routinely respond across jurisdictions and assignment codes don’t reflect actual duty time.

“We are absolutely subsidizing … the general fund is subsidizing the contract cities,” Harvont said, urging the commission to adopt clearer baseline staffing numbers so invoices to contract cities reflect actual services.

The sheriff and his staff presented a 0‑based look at staffing that compared Weber County to national averages and peer agencies. Harvont said the contract cities’ aggregate staffing equates to about 0.57 officers per 1,000 residents — a figure he said falls below commonly observed staffing levels. He told commissioners that, given current vacancies and overtime, that contract‑city figure is likely closer to 0.445 per 1,000 in practice.

Why it matters: Commissioners and the sheriff said unclear assignment lines make it difficult to bill contract cities equitably or to show when a municipality is being subsidized. Commissioners said they want a line‑item baseline for a fully staffed department to inform the 2026 budget and any discussions with mayors about raising contract payments.

Key points from the discussion

- Staffing and per‑capita measures: Harvont and his staff cited national averages of roughly 1.8–2.3 officers per 1,000 people and said no nearby agency operates below 1 per 1,000. He identified wide local variation — Ogden about 2 per 1,000, Pleasant View slightly over 1 per 1,000 — and estimated that if all contract cities had their own departments their combined staffing need would exceed 100 officers.

- Deputies versus sergeants/lieutenants: The spreadsheet shown to commissioners allocated sergeants and lieutenants by percent because their duties and locations are easier to trace; patrol deputies are harder to split because they move among unincorporated county assignments, contract cities and events.

- Vacancy impacts and requests: Harvont said the sheriff’s office is down roughly 10–12 patrol deputies and that vacancies increase crossover assignments. He asked the commission to include 10 deputy positions specifically for contract cities in next year’s budget and signaled a tentative request for an additional 10 deputies in the following year to reach a staffing level the office views as closer to appropriate for the county’s workload.

- Data and next steps commissioners requested: Commissioners asked staff and the sheriff’s office to provide a cleaned, line‑item roster of the roughly 78 positions the department currently counts (described in the discussion as 32 general‑fund positions, 46 contract positions) and to show where those positions would fall if the department were fully staffed at current budgeted levels. Commissioners repeatedly requested percentage allocations for shared positions (for example, school resource officers and boat patrol) under a fully staffed scenario, not a snapshot of the current, vacancy‑affected day‑to‑day reality.

Questions and concerns raised by commissioners

Commissioners pressed for clarity about double billing and fairness. One commissioner summarized the equity issue this way: citizens in a city that funds its own police department also pay into the county general fund and may be receiving overlapping services, which some officials described as “double taxation.” Commissioners repeatedly asked staff to show a baseline that separates routine county assignments (e.g., fairgrounds, search and rescue, countywide patrol) from contract‑city assignments so billing and public reporting can be more transparent.

Operational constraints

Sheriff Harvont and staff emphasized that even with a cleaner baseline, emergency responses will continue to require cross‑jurisdictional support: when multiple deputies are needed for shootings or large incidents, deputies assigned to other areas respond. Harvont said that reality is a reason to preserve general‑fund patrol capacity while also funding additional deputies dedicated to contract cities.

What commissioners directed

Commissioners asked sheriff’s staff and county budget staff to: (a) provide a line‑item list of the approximately 78 positions referenced during the meeting, (b) show the allocation percentages for sergeants and above and for assignments such as school resource officers and boat patrol under a fully staffed scenario, and (c) present the results as part of the next budget materials so commissioners and the contract mayors can use the data in negotiations.

Ending

The sheriff’s office and county budget staff agreed to return the requested breakdown in time for the commission’s next budget cycle. Commissioners said they expect the data to form the basis for discussions with contract cities about whether current contract fees are covering the level of service those cities receive.