On February 28, 2023, at 7 p.m. the Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) met for a Special Meeting in order to make a final decision regarding contracting with the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office
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On February 28, 2023, at 7 p.m. the Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) met for a Special Meeting in order to make a final decision regarding contracting with the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) for Nederland’s law enforcement coverage. Ultimately, the BOT opted for the least amount of coverage that could possibly be provided, saving the Town nearly half a million dollars in their law enforcement budget, not including the cost of extra-duty daytime officers currently being provided by BCSO.
It has been a long road for the BOT to get to this decision, which was madebya4-3vote.Thisarticleisa recapitulation of the issue of staffing NPD versus contracting with BCSO in three distinct parts: the loss of the NPD; the efforts to save the NPD; and the decision to contract with BCSO.
The loss of the NPD
Former Town Marshal Larry Johns warned Trustees and the Town of Nederland through his submitted staff reports in March and April, 2022, that NPD was experiencing difficulties in its recruitment efforts.
Marshal Jennifer Fine-Loven, who took her Oath of Office on April 19, 2022, first made mention of a staffing issue in her May 10 report to the BOT, stating that “NPD has been working with two officers since May 5th. This has required numerous 14-hour shifts with only one officer on duty at a time,” which is a direct result of Marshal Johns’ retirement and Officer Erich Gerthe’s resignation from the NPD.
The BOT heard from Fine-Loven on July 19, 2022, about the NPD having suffered another officer resignation, in Officer J.P. Niehaus, as a result of low salaries and extreme overtime hours. During that meeting Fine-Loven provided the BOT a proposal for funding the NPD as well as information on the cost of full-time coverage by BCSO.
On July 20, 2022, Fine-Loven, along with Police Clerk Troy Hendricks, became the only full-time officers left on the NPD. After a month of working long, arduous shifts with little to no relief, Fine-Loven officially resigned as Town Marshal on August 18, 2022.
An official statement from the Town of Nederland released on August 19 reads: “The Town is fully committed to rebuilding the Nederland Police Department and is looking to bring in an interim Marshal as soon as possible.
“In addition, the Town is currently working with BCSO to continue to provide extra-duty coverage and will be working with a consultant to complete an extensive recruitment campaign.”
Fine-Loven’s last day of service as Nederland’s Town Marshal was on September 30, 2022.
The efforts to save the NPD
Almost immediately after hearing from Fine-Loven on July 19, 2022 about the staffing “crisis” affecting the NPD, the BOT began discussing possible revenue sources to help fund the department. The decision was made quickly to propose tax initiatives as questions on the ballot for the November 8 coordinated election with Boulder County.
Beginning on July 26 and continuing all through August to September 6, the BOT discussed the draft language pertaining to the three proposed tax initiatives.
Two of the three ballot issues regarding raising taxes in Nederland specified the extra revenue as being allocated for law enforcement. Trustees discussed the matter of draft ballot language on their meeting agendas for several months under the umbrella of the much larger NPD staffing issue.
Town of Nederland Issue 2J asked voters: “Shall Town of Nederland taxes be increased $156,250 annually in the first full fiscal year beginning January 1, 2023, and by such amounts as are raised annually thereafter by the imposition of an additional 0.25% sales tax such that Town of Nederland tax rate increases from 4.0% to 4.25%.”
The total sales tax assessed in Nederland is 8.985%, dispersed at 4.00% to the Town of Nederland, including .25% to road repairs, .985% to Boulder County, 2.90% to the state of Colorado, and 1.10% to RTD and other districts.
The total sales tax revenue for 2022 was projected at $1,981,047, which includes $35,000 from marijuana sales, with $121,469 going to Streets, $243,939 going to both Sewer and Water, and $364,408 going to the Nederland Community Center. This left $1,009,292 from 2022 sales tax revenue going to the General Fund, which funds Health and Human Services as well as the NPD.
Raising the sales tax by a quarter of a percentage point equals approximately $125,000 in revenue to the Town. Out of 47 Nederland business owners surveyed, 61.7% of them were in favor of increasing the sales tax to fund Health and Human Services, law enforcement, critical infrastructure, and Town staff.
The official ballot language states that the 0.25% would fund law enforcement personnel, equipment, and facilities, as well as personnel to support other Town services, which were not specified or defined.
Town of Nederland Issue 2L asked voters: “Shall Town of Nederland taxes be increased by $45,000 annually in the first full fiscal year beginning January 1, 2023, and by such amounts as are raised annually by an increase in the occupational tax paid by every person or business that furnishes short-term lodging to the amount of $4.00 per day per bedroom or per other accommodation without defined bedrooms.”
The ballot language specifies the revenue as being for Health and Human Services programs and activities and also for law enforcement services; however, the percentage of allocation between the two services had yet to be defined.
On November 8, the Nederland electorate voted to approve all tax increases. Over the next few weeks the BOT made final revisions to, and eventually voted on, several ordinances which outlined how the revenue from the new tax initiatives was going to be allocated.
On November 29, the BOT gave their final approval to the ordinances, voting to not create a special isolated fund specifically for the NPD through which to allocate the sales taxes revenue. This decision echoed statements made during the BOT meeting on August 16, 2022, concerning disapproval of officially earmarking the tax revenue for the NPD due to the Board having “yet to make a public decision” on the future of the NPD.
On December 20, the BOT voted to approve a resolution which dictated the allocation of the lodging occupational tax revenue, allocating 99% of the projected $45,000 revenue to the Health and Human Services Fund and the remaining 1% to the General Fund where it is further allocated to law enforcement services.
As Trustees were solidifying the voter-approved tax initiatives, Town Administrator Miranda Fisher, with assistance from Estes Park Police Chief David Hayes, worked diligently through a 90-day recruitment process for the NPD, receiving over 70 applicants, pre-screening 42 and interviewing 19 of them.
Fisher was hoping to recruit one fulltime Marshal who could in turn recruit and train up to five new officers for the NPD. Back in July, former Marshal Fine-Loven had originally suggested that the Town hire a total of six, ideally seven, officers if it wanted full coverage day and night.
One potential candidate for Town Marshal, Detective Sergeant Daniel Gledhill from North Carolina, was chosen from the pool of candidates and was publicly interviewed by the BOT on December 1. On December 2 it was stated that Gledhill had accepted the position, with his first day with the NPD scheduled for January 17, 2023.
Unfortunately, on January 9 Gledhill notified the Town of Nederland that he was declining the position due to personal reasons.
The decision to contract with BCSO
BCSO has been providing nighttime coverage for Nederland via an existing contract and, for over half a year, has been responding to priority one calls. BCSO officers have also been signing up for extra-duty shifts in their free time to provide daytime coverage at an inflated pay rate. It is reportedly costing the Town an estimated $25,000 a month to pay for extra-duty coverage, which comes out of Nederland’s $1.1 million dollar budget for 2023.
On January 31, 2023, the Town of Nederland held a special Town Hall meeting to hear from local residents and gauge public opinion on how to best provide the public service of law enforcement. Public comment from the heavily attended meeting was leaning more towards the Town contracting with BCSO, though public comment on the matter in previous BOT meetings had been overwhelmingly in favor of rebuilding the NPD, a sentiment echoed by the electorate’s approval of the three tax increases on November 8, 2022.
Mayor Billy Giblin, the BOT, Town staff, and members of the community also heard directly from BCSO Operations Division Chief Jim Chamberlin and Sheriff Curtis Johnson at the January 31 meeting.
Chamberlin and Johnson shared an impressive list of incentives for contracting with BCSO, including records management, optional animal control, backend support, investigative support, and access to a mental health co-responder.
Chamberlin and Johnson also addressed the concerns of the public, stating that Nederland could be staffed with a full-time sergeant, four deputies, a half-time detective, and partial animal control within twelve months of contracting with BCSO, for a cost of $877,000. The projected cost does not include outside expenses such as equipment costs or rent for their required operational space.
This hypothetical contract was the recommended amount of police coverage for Nederland, according to BCSO.
The BOT discussed that their attempt to recruit for the NPD had failed, and there was much concern among Trustees that another 90-day process to attempt to recruit a Marshal to the NPD would just produce the same result. Both Trustees and dissenting members of the public appeared to be convinced that contracting with BCSO was the correct course of action in regards to financial responsibility and providing stable and consistent police coverage.
When the matter of choosing a law enforcement option returned to the BOT’s agenda on February 28, it returned as an Action Item. The BOT were given three contract options from BCSO starting with Option A, which specifies a full-time sergeant, four deputies, 50% of time from a detective, and 20% of time from an animal control officer within twelve months of contracting with BCSO, for a cost of $877,596 a year.
Option B was the same coverage but without any time from BCSO animal control at a cost of $851,479; and Option C specified one full-time sergeant and three deputies, with a half-time detective and without any animal control, for an estimated cost of $711,596.
Under Option C one of the three deputies would be assigned to the day shift and be expected to provide 50% coverage, meaning the deputy spends 50% of their uncommitted time in Nederland and the remaining 50% is spent in unincorporated Boulder County. Option C featured the least amount of coverage that BCSO would allow, which is far less than what Fine-Loven had suggested for the NPD, and also less than what BCSO themselves recommended.
Trustees Tania Corvalan and Nichole Sterling and Mayor Pro-Tem Tom Mahowald all desired to give the taxpayers what they asked for and to contract for the most possible police coverage available. They voted against a motion to continue pursuing contract negotiations with BCSO under Option C, but the motion passed 4 - 3.
Those Trustees in favor of Option C believed it to be the most financially responsible decision.
Currently, the contract with BCSO is being finalized and will return to the BOT’s Consent Agenda for approval at a future meeting. Items on the Consent Agenda are only discussed in the case of a concern raised by a Trustee and are approved without public comment. The contract would then be submitted to the Boulder County Commissioners for their final approval.
Though a contract with BCSO has yet to be solidified, Nederland residents have been voicing their concerns online about BOT’s decision to opt for so little police coverage. Taxpayers have also been voicing their concerns online about where the tax revenue will go that was voted on to support rebuilding the NPD.
With the contract amount of $711,596 a year expected to be higher due to other outside costs, and with the Town still having to pay the $25,000 a month for extra-duty officers during the 12 months it will take for BCSO to fully staff Nederland, there will not be much left from the $1.1 million law enforcement budget to spend in 2023.
“With Option C, there is a ‘savings’ of approximately $200,000 because we are still responsible for a lot of expenses above and beyond the BCSO staffing contract,” Fisher told The Mountain-Ear. “This money would go into the general fund. However, we are asking the BOT to fund things like a comprehensive plan update and match funding for a second bridge.”
By 2024 the Town of Nederland’s official budget will be modified to more accurately represent how much revenue is needed to be allocated to law enforcement.
“Once we have a contract set, we will come to the BOT with a 2023 supplemental budget that shows costs to date as well as anticipated future expenses under the BCSO staffing. That will give the community a better idea of how much we’ve spent so far versus what needs to be budgeted for in the future,” Fisher said.
The decision made on February 28 was not made easily, and the road to that decision was not a smooth one. But despite how popular or unpopular the end result may be, one of the primary roles of a town government is to provide their citizens certain basic services, which includes law enforcement. Mayor Giblin and the BOT felt that they would be remiss in their duties if they allowed another six months to pass without coming to a solution.
The Town of Nederland and BCSO hope to find a staff sergeant by this summer who would immediately begin recruiting for deputies and reporting monthly to the BOT.
The BOT meets on the first and third Tuesday of every month. Their next meeting is on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, at 7 p.m. and can be attended either online or in person at the Nederland Community Center.
For more information: https:// townofnederland.colorado.gov/boardof trustees