By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews
Efforts to complete an agreement to provide Yachats with its first contract sheriff’s deputy while simultaneously lowering the cost of Waldport’s two deputies hit more roadblocks at the hands of county commissioners Wednesday.
The three-member board of commissioners voted unanimously to sign a one-year contract with Waldport to continue to provide two contract deputies at a cost of $366,275 — $66,000 more than Waldport wants to pay. They also moved to consider signing an agreement at its meeting next Wednesday that would have Yachats paying $222,760 for a one-year contract.
Both contracts would then have to be approved by the towns’ city councils. The agreements the cities hoped to have approved would have seen Waldport paying $300,000 and Yachats $150,000.
Waldport’s 2023-24 contract with the sheriff’s office expires Sunday, which means a new contract must be agreed upon before Monday or no contract deputy will be scheduled that day.
After learning of the commission’s decision, the Waldport city council scheduled a special session at 4 p.m. Monday to consider its options.
“Waldport is shocked by the action taken by the county commissioners Wednesday, leaving the future of the security of south Lincoln County in jeopardy,” read a statement released by the Waldport council later Wednesday. “The city will decide how they want to proceed in the coming week.”
Waldport has budgeted $300,000 for a new contract. City manager Dann Cutter did leave enough to cover the additional $66,000, but said it will mean taking away from other projects the city had earmarked.
“And that’s going to make some people really upset,” he said.
When a Waldport contract for 2024-25 was initially presented by Sheriff Curtis Landers in April the amount was nearly $400,000, which reflected a 9 percent increase over the city’s current contract. After pushback, Landers and county staff crunched numbers and weeded out redundant costs and the result is that the amount commissioners settled on Wednesday is exactly what Waldport paid this year.
Cutter and commissioner Kaety Jacobson met privately Thursday afternoon to discuss details of the contract. Cutter had planned to attend the commission meeting via Zoom from a city managers conference in Hood River, but said a faulty outlet left him with a dead cell phone at the start of the 10 a.m. meeting.
Thursday evening Cutter said the discussion with Jacobson was “fruitful.”
“While we still disagree on the outcome of the board of commissioners’ decision, the ability to share perspectives on the pathway to this point for both parties was very useful,” he said in an email to YachatsNews. “It is our hope that we can still create a shared way forward. Not just for Waldport, but for south Lincoln County.”
Jacobson and other commissioners made it clear during Wednesday’s meeting that they want uniformity in the amount cities pay for contract deputies, despite Landers and county administrator Tim Johnson proposing the amounts sought by the two cities. Depoe Bay and Siletz are the only other cities besides Waldport that currently have contracts for regular deputy patrols.
Landers told commissioners Wednesday that with the number of variables involved the only way uniformity will be reached is if voters approve a rural taxing district.
“We would drop all the boundaries and everyone would pay an equal share of providing that enhanced coverage for their areas,” Landers said.
While it is too late to get an initiative for a taxing district on the November ballot, commissioners said it was worth further examination for consideration next May.
Amidst more number crunching during the commission meeting, it was estimated the average cost of employing a single deputy is $136,119 a year. It was also determined – although more loosely – that additional added costs to support that deputy falls somewhere in the ballpark of $46,690, bringing the total full cost of a deputy at just under $183,000 a year.
Yachats deputy
It was that figure coupled with one-time startup costs that commissioners used to determine the $222,760 first-year contract amount for Yachats. However, because of staff shortages at the sheriff’s office, which includes five open patrol positions, it is likely Yachats would not have a dedicated deputy until at least October.
That means Yachats’ contract would be pro-rated – which after more number crunching during the meeting – determined that to be about $150,000. That’s exactly what the city’s 2024-25 budget had allotted for its one-year commitment to test whether having a contract deputy is worthwhile.
Yachats city manager Bobbi Price who did attend Wednesday’s meeting via Zoom from Hood River, told commissioners the city could absorb the additional startup costs in 2025-26 if the city chose to continue into a second year.
“However, we are also talking about this maybe not starting until October,” Price said. “If that was the case and it was prorated on that level than there would be additional funds to put toward the startup cost being discussed.”
If commissioners sign a Yachats’ contract at their July 3 meeting, it will then go to the Yachats council for approval July 17.
- Garret Jaros is YachatsNews’ full-time reporter and can be reached at GJaros@YachatsNews.com
It’s a shame the commissioners shot this down. Ridiculous actually. Waldport citizens have been footing the bill for years while Yachats has paid zip. The commissioners have always had both the sheriff’s department and Newport police to protect them and simply do not know what we go through as citizens needing help out here. Vote for better.