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Council weighs shifting on-call coverage to county sheriff as on-call costs bite budget
Summary
Council reviewed on-call pay and callout statistics (13 priority callouts in seven months) and discussed asking Columbia County and the sheriff to honor patrol-levy commitments; staff estimated significant on-call hours and urged the council to press the county for coverage.
Council members and staff spent extensive time examining on-call expectations, callout counts and how those costs are funded. Staff reported 13 priority callouts in seven months and contrasted a small direct callout payroll figure (about $3,000) with a larger estimate if the city paid on-call hour-for-hour (cited in the meeting as about $27,000).
Several councilors urged the city to press Columbia County and the sheriff's office to fulfill patrol-levy commitments that were intended to fund increased deputy coverage. "If we're being taxed this much money for this levy and we're not getting any representation for it, I'm sorry. That's not appropriate," one councilor said, and the council agreed to draft a statement and consider presenting it at a county commissioners' meeting.
