Although Cupertino and Los Altos Hills renewed more expensive public safety contracts with the Santa Clara County Sheriff\u2019s Office, the mayors of both negotiated the possibility of recovering costs associated with excessive overhead that they believe are improper.<\/p>\n
Saratoga, Cupertino and Los Altos Hills have historically contracted their law enforcement<\/a> and public safety services out to the county. Both Cupertino and Los Altos Hills did not have a policing alternative to contracting with the sheriff\u2019s department, so they signed the contract at a higher cost. Los Altos Hills Mayor Rajiv Bhateja said the town renewed its contract with the sheriff\u2019s office during a special meeting on Aug. 31 for almost $3.4 million for this fiscal year. The town used to pay $2.8 million a year. Cupertino Mayor Kitty Moore said the council approved renewing the sheriff\u2019s contract on Sept. 15 for a total of $25.4 million for this fiscal year. The city\u2019s former contract cost $19 million yearly. Both mayors confirmed that they added language that preserved their ability to challenge costs under California Government Code 51350, which states that counties are required to charge costs incurred in providing contracted services but cannot pass on certain countywide and general government overhead charges to contract cities.<\/p>\n Saratoga renewed<\/a> its public safety contract with the sheriff\u2019s office on Aug. 19 for $10.8 million. Saratoga previously paid $9 million for these services, leading city staff to warn the council of a \u201cdire fiscal situation\u201d<\/a> if they continued to contract with the sheriff\u2019s office. The Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department offered to provide law enforcement services in Saratoga for around $9.7 million, despite residents\u2019 complaints<\/a> about costs and privacy concerns related to automatic license plate reader usage.<\/p>\n According to Bhateja, the cost recovery section of Los Altos Hills\u2019 contract with the sheriff\u2019s office allows the cities to challenge the costs, but it does not establish that the cities were overcharged or guarantee repayment. Moore confirmed that similar language was included in Cupertino\u2019s contract to ensure that the appropriate costs were passed onto the city.<\/p>\n