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Nibley council approves one-year increase in sheriff contract rate; deputies report steady service
Summary
The council approved an amendment to the Cache County Sheriff contract raising the hourly contract rate for law enforcement and animal control from $52.35 to $56 per hour for the next contract year; sheriff described staffing pressures and cited efforts to increase patrol hours and targeted enforcement.
The Nibley City Council approved a one-year amendment to its contract with the Cache County Sheriff’s Office that increases the hourly contracted rate for law enforcement and animal-control services.
Sheriff Chad Jensen told the council he is proposing a temporary one-year rate increase that will allow the sheriff’s office to move toward a longer-term adjustment of hourly wages. Jensen said the office has not adjusted the contract hourly rate in several years while labor-market pressures have raised costs across the valley. He reported the sheriff’s office had asked for a modest hourly jump from $52.35 to $56 per hour for the coming year, which he estimated would add about $8,300 to Nibley’s contract costs.
The sheriff described how deputies are using a mix of proactive and directed patrols — for example focusing on school corridors and speeding corridors — and that countywide the office has seen increases in DUI and drug arrests while calls for service changed slightly year over year. He added that recruitment in recent months has been competitive and the office had lost a few deputies to neighboring agencies that offered large pay increases.
Councilmembers praised the ongoing partnership and compared the costs of contracting with having a local municipal police department. City staff and the sheriff’s office said they will continue to meet with other valley cities about a longer-term contract; sheriff Jensen told the council he anticipated discussing a multi-year contract in the future.
The council voted to adopt the resolution and waive the second reading, enacting the rate change immediately. The clerk recorded the roll call as five council members voting in favor and no recorded opposition on the motion to adopt and waive a second reading.
The approved action also affirmed that animal-control services through the joint contract were continuing; sheriff’s office staff reported the impound/adoption program has returned a high owner pickup rate and is largely self-supporting through fees and fines.
