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Council approves police–school liaison contracts amid concern over steep county-driven rate increases
Summary
Rochester Hills approved the 2024–25 police-school liaison contracts for Rochester Community Schools and Avendale despite council members’ objections to what they described as double-digit year-over-year rate increases from Oakland County.
The Rochester Hills City Council on Sept. 23 approved police–school liaison contracts covering the 2024–25 school year for Rochester Community Schools and the Avendale School District, but members voiced strong concern about significant contract-rate increases set by Oakland County.
The council approved the Rochester Community Schools liaison program contract for $953,000 and the Avendale School District contract for $15,382. Vice President Walker and other council members said the county rates driving those figures represent double-digit increases (Walker cited roughly 17–21 percent year-over-year) and questioned the basis for such large adjustments.
"If you do the math on the rate increases year-over-year... it's 20 some odd percent 17% for one 21% that is a dramatic increase," Vice President Walker said. He described the increases as "unsubstantiated as far as I can tell" and urged scrutiny because such jumps strain municipal forecasting and school budgets.
City Administrator Mr. Snider and Mayor Barnett said the increases reflect an administrative component the county applied to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office contractual rate; they described a contentious meeting among county leaders and municipal representatives earlier in the year. "There was an administrative component that was now being applied onto the Oakland County Sheriff's Office contractual rate," Mr. Snider said, and the mayor added that the county and sheriff had differing views on those costs.
Despite their concerns, council members voted to approve both contracts so the liaison program could continue. The motions passed unanimously.
Why it matters: The school-liaison program funds officers assigned to local schools; unexpected or large cost increases shift costs to the city and partner school districts and complicate multi-year fiscal planning.
Next steps: The city and council will continue to press county officials for detail on the rate increases and monitor final county rate determinations, which are expected to be finalized in late 2024.
