Council proposes increase to sheriff's contract

Norwalk public safety officers and sheriff’s deputies at a “Coffee with a Cop” event in Norwalk last year. (City of Norwalk photo)

NORWALK — The city council explored increasing the budget for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s contract, and the public and social services department in the proposed fiscal year budget for 2023 - 2024 during a special meeting on Tuesday.

Jana Stuard, the finance director, explained that the LA County Sheriff’s contract budget would increase by approximately 6.73% under the proposed plan, from $17,254,013 in 2023 to $18,285,489 in 2024. It would also add a quadrant officer to the city.

“[The cost of the quadrant officer] for the upcoming fiscal year would be around $460,000. But $92,000 of it is actually the car for the officer and that would not be reoccurring constantly,” Stuard said.

Public safety would receive a budget increase of 1% through the general fund expenditures, but they receive 29% of the general fund. The department would receive a proposed budget of $24,676,191 in 2024.

Public and social services would each receive a budget increase of 10% for the next fiscal year. In 2024 public services would have a budget of $15,982,503, while social services would have a budget of $3,994,916.

“Public services are followed. It’s our streets, meetings, parks, everything that is related to maintenance of our infrastructure and buildings,” Stuard said.

Vice Mayor Margarita Rios expressed concern over the amount the city has received from the Measure P sales tax and how it is utilized.

“When we asked our residents to vote in favor of an increase in our sales tax, one of the big sales was we were going to pump up our public safety,” Rios said. “The sheriffs didn’t have the numbers to give us additional deputies, so I want to know exactly how much we’ve received in Measure P.”

Jesus Gomez, the city manager, explained Measure P had funded $4 million per year to the sheriff’s contract, including funding for additional motor officers and a second NET team.

However, Rios requested a detailed report outlining how Measure P funds have been used and the plans for future allocations.

The city council will vote on the proposed budget during their meeting on June 20.