Bluffdale considers forming own police force

BLUFFDALE — The lone holdout in joining Salt Lake County's Unified Police Department, Bluffdale, is now considering forming its own force.

According to estimates, a self-providing model would cost the city anywhere from $900,000 to $1.2 million a year, with roughly $150,000 to $200,000 in one-time, start-up costs.

But new elected officials in Bluffdale and police representatives from Stockton and Grantsville say that number could be even lower.

"I really want to get our own police department," said Noell Nelson, a former Bluffdale mayor who was elected to the City Council in November. "And we can bring the cost down."

Since voting in August to table a decision on the future of the city's police force, Bluffdale officials have been researching costs of a city-run force. Officials in Stockton, Grantsville, Delta and Mapleton have provided a picture of how cities with similar small tax bases manage their police forces.

Bluffdale's current police contract with Salt Lake County costs roughly $650,000, but the county is revamping the UPD. It would be run by a board of local mayors and county representatives, giving the cities the budgetary and police control they've been wanting for years.

But a contract line could force Bluffdale to increase its police staff from 4.5 to 8 full-time positions — a jump that would crush the city budget.

The city has to make a decision by the new year, at which time a new mayor and two new council members will be on the council dais.

Bluffdale also is considering contracting with Saratoga Springs to provide police service at a cost of $687,583 for the first year and $643,983 in the second year.

Mayor-elect Derk Timothy is leaning toward the latter option. He pointed to Taylorsville's experience of ditching the county for a city-run force.

"All the number crunching they did, as accurate as they thought the were, their costs ended up being 30 percent more than they calculated," Timothy said. "I think we will need to look into the hidden costs to prevent the Taylorsville situation."

Councilman Rod Flanigan pitched projecting costs five years out.

"This has to be a long-term, sustainable program," Flanigan said. "I'm not interested in this thing to fall flat on its face. It's got to be sustainable. If there's not a model for financial sustainability, I'm not for it."

The council agreed to come back in December, when all options could be compared in an "apples-to-apples" model.

Three Salt Lake County cities — Cottonwood Heights, Draper and Taylorsville — have abandoned the county sheriff's office for their own city-based police forces in recent years. Those moves in part prompted the county's new UPD.

e-mail: astowell@desnews.com