Council to consider awarding contract for Orange County Sheriff’s Department Contract Law Enforcement Cost and Efficiency Study

The Mission Viejo City Council on November 28 will consider awarding a contract to Matrix Consulting Group to perform the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) Contract Law Enforcement Cost and Efficiency Study.  The meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall, 200 Civic Center.

The OCSD Contract Law Enforcement Cost and Efficiency Study is a collaboration among 13 Orange County cities to evaluate the operational cost and efficiency opportunities in the delivery of police services. While the 13 cities recognize it’s more cost effective to contract with the Sheriff’s Department than form their own police departments, it’s indeed time to evaluate opportunities for greater efficiencies, share regional service costs and consider sharing staff positions.

The Mission Viejo City Council in September approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the study between the City and Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Stanton, Villa Park and Yorba Linda.  The cost and efficiency study will identify the trends and issues driving annual increases in the cost for police services. This cooperative effort is an outgrowth of discussions between City, County and OCSD executive leadership.

The need for the study is certainly there. Over the last decade, costs for OCSD law enforcement services have increased on average by 33%, with about 26% of the increase occurring in the last five years. During the last four fiscal years, average growth in contract costs has ranged from 5.69% to 7.40%. Before that, growth ranged from 0.31% to 3.00%.  Thus, the cost of the OCSD contract is becoming a greater percentage of the cities’ General Fund budgets.  Most of the law enforcement increases are out of the cities’ hands – and are primarily driven by deputy salaries and pension benefits. Those increases fall under the County Board of Supervisors and Orange County Employees Retirement System (OCERS).

As lead agency, the City of Mission Viejo issued a request for proposals (RFP) to qualified firms to conduct the work. After careful evaluation, the City Managers from all 13 cities agreed to recommend awarding a contract to Matrix Consulting Group. This firm has conducted police studies for hundreds of communities, including many contract evaluation studies in Orange County.  Its proposal also came in more than $30,000 less than the projected $300,000 project cost, which is being funded by all 13 cities.

The cost and efficiency study is expected to take six to eight months to complete and will officially kick off next month.

For more information, contact Mission Viejo City Manager Dennis Wilberg at 949-470-3050.

Mission Viejo City Council meetings are streamed live at https://cityofmissionviejo.org/stream and air on Cox Channel 30 and AT&T Channel 99.