The City of Allegan has ended its consideration of contracting out police services.
After community input sessions and a review of a potential agreement with the Allegan County Sheriff’s Office, the City decided to end further discussion of a budget option to contract with the county for police services. The idea was first publicly discussed at the April 14 Allegan City Council meeting when City Manager Joel Dye presented it as one of several options to reduce expenses to pay for infrastructure projects.
“Yesterday, our community came out loud and clear to support retaining our Police Department as is,” Dye said. “We asked for resident input, and we listened. Contracting with the county for police services is no longer an option on the table.
“As we have shared, the City is operationally sound, but we still need to raise approximately $11 million over the next decade to repair roads, in addition to costs to replace lead water service lines, maintain our parks and other important infrastructure projects. We simply don’t have money in our current budget for continued investment in our City’s critical infrastructure.
“We must find a financial path that allows us to provide City services while paying for infrastructure needs. We will work collaboratively with our community to find a solution they can both support and participate in.”
At the direction of City Council, Dye had outlined the idea to contract police services with the county as one of four potential options to reduce expenses and secure funds to support needed infrastructure projects. Such an arrangement would have saved as much as $750,000 in the first year and $460,905 annually after that, funds that would have been used to pay an infrastructure bond.
“We thank Joel Dye and City staff for their diligent work in responding to the City Council’s request to explore funding options for future infrastructure improvements,” said Allegan Mayor Traci Perrigo. “We look forward to engaging the community in constructive dialogue as we discuss how to fund these needs in our City.”
In preliminary discussions with the county, the City intended to have 1:1 transfer of officers to patrol the City. Additional discussions showed those officers would be required to spend up to 25% of their time outside the City of Allegan, which Dye said was a “nonstarter” for City staff and City Council.
The City hosted three listening sessions on Tuesday April 22. More than 100 residents as well as nonresidents attended these meetings. Support to keep police services with the City was overwhelming.
“We are deeply appreciative of the outpouring of support for the City of Allegan Police Department,” Chief Jay Gibson said. “We look forward to moving beyond this conversation as we continue to serve and protect our community.”
City of Allegan staff will continue to explore other financing options, including a millage and additional cost reductions.
