With an agreement expanding Holts Summit's police coverage to include New Bloomfield expiring at the end of December, discussions have taken place to possibly continue the arrangement, according to officials from both cities.
The original agreement, which was was signed in June, had New Bloomfield paying Holts Summit $20,000 to extend its police department's patrol route to New Bloomfield, respond to calls for service and enforce ordinances.
The deal came after New Bloomfield's City Council came under criticism from residents earlier this year regarding cuts to the city's police department and resignation of its police chief.
A new agreement is still up in the air. Holts Summit Police Chief Kyle McIntyre said the process has only consisted of a few talks, with nothing in writing yet.
Martha Siegel, New Bloomfield alderwoman and former mayor pro tem, said the city is looking at its financial situation before deciding if it can continue with the arrangement. An audit report from an outside firm is expected to be ready in time for the New Bloomfield council's December meeting, she added, which should provide additional information to help make a decision by the end of the year.
"To me, I don't see how we can not partner with them, Holts Summit, if we can at all afford to squeak by," Siegel said.
Without a new agreement, Siegel said, New Bloomfield would likely rely on the Callaway County Sheriff's office. The city has mostly depended on the sheriff's office in the past, but deputies would not enforce ordinances as Holts Summit officers do.
Matt Harline, city administrator of Holts Summit, said a potential new agreement would run for a year and should cost New Bloomfield less than $40,000, with around $36,000 being likely. The original agreement's price of $20,000 for half a year ended up being more than the additional fuel and maintenance costs Holts Summit took on by expanding police service to New Bloomfield, which the fee is intended to cover.
"In addition to that, they have some equipment that they no longer need that would be valuable to us," Harline added. "So, essentially the total net value we believe would be at around $40,000."
New Bloomfield had budgeted $14,580 for officers' salaries in 2018, according to its annual budget. The total expenditures for the city's police department was $48,470, with $4,000 in grant revenue. New Bloomfield's 2017 budget included around $47,565 in expenditures for a police force.
Continuing the agreement would be in New Bloomfield's best interest if possible, Siegel said, and should provide a better service than the city could manage itself.
"We've only been able to hire someone who could work when they could work, part time," Siegel said. " And these guys (Holts Summit's police officers), they keep up with their training, they keep up with the newest laws or procedures or whatever is passed. And we just could never hire somebody that could do it like that."
According to call statistics released by the Holts Summit Police Department, officers have responded to 261 calls for service in New Bloomfield from June 17-Nov. 13 - an average of around 65 calls per month. The majority of calls were for security patrols, business checks, ordinance violations and traffic stops.
The logs also include two calls for stealing, three calls for domestic disturbance, four calls for animal complaints and seven calls for motor vehicle crashes, among other service calls.
Complicating New Bloomfield's financial situation is the incoming cost of an audit by the Missouri auditor's office, Siegel said. The audit is the result of a petition submitted earlier this year with more than 100 signatures of New Bloomfield residents.
Steph Deidrick, press secretary for the state auditor's office, said the initial audit is expected to begin this winter with an estimated cost of $20,000-$40,000. State law requires New Bloomfield to pay the actual cost of the audit.
Harline said Holts Summit does not anticipate any significant changes, other than the price, to how the original police agreement was structured if discussions of a new deal go forward.
The cost to New Bloomfield would not include the working hours officers spend in the area, Harline said, because it would be difficult to measure the time used servicing New Bloomfield.
"It's supposed to cover our additional expenses; we were going to pay those officers anyway," he added.
Harline said the arrangement does lead to "some minor diminution" to police presence in Holts Summit's city limits, but two officers are almost always on duty and the difference should not have an impact.
"We've stretched ourselves to have the force we have now, financially," Harline said. "Talking about the budget, if you look at those numbers from '15, '16, '17, '18, and now proposed for '19, the thing that's gone up the most in our budget is police department. But it's also become a very well respected and effective crimefighting force."
Harline said the primary motivation for Holts Summit in extending police coverage to New Bloomfield is to help a neighboring city, citing help Holts Summit has received from Jefferson City, with handling wastewater, and Fulton, with storing animals, as examples of how "cities work with cities."