Village of Hardin tables agreement with county to cover costs of a Sheriff Deputy
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By Steven Spencer
The Village of Hardin made a motion to table an intergovernmental agreement with the county to help with funding a deputy for the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office at their regular meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 14.
The village was approached in May by County Commissioners Phil Robeen and Terry Woelfel as well as Chief Deputy Zach Hardin to discuss the possibility of the village funding a deputy salary and squad car.
In May, Robeen told the Hardin board that the county spends approximately $597,000 a year to fund the department and expected the cost to increase to around $693,000.
The village was presented with an intergovernmental agreement that detailed costs as well as the amount of time that would be dedicated by the officer in the Village of Hardin.
The agreement asked for approximately $54,000 from the village.
One of the concerns from the village was how much time would actually be dedicated to Hardin and how many ordinance violations could be handled for the village.
“I still think it needs to be signed also by the Sheriff’s department because the county board has authority over their budget, they have no authority over what they do and what they don’t do,” Matt Haug said. “The residents of the village pay property tax to the county the same as people that are not in the village. We get a small portion of that back as village residents that we use for our own services, so how are we different from the people that are not in the village? We use that to offset expenses of the county. They don’t provide us with snow removal, they don’t have to provide us with street maintenance. So I’m confused as to why they think we owe them that money.”
The village board members said they wouldn’t have an issue with an agreement that would provide them some coverage as well as help the county as a whole, but would like to see other villages within the county help with the cost and would like more enforcement of village ordinances.
During Wednesday’s meeting, it was stated that there may be a need for an increase in the police force but it feels like Hardin is being targeted and the funding should be county-wide.
The County Commissioners said in May that they had been in talks with other villages within the county as well, but was asking Hardin specifically due to the amount calls that come in for the village. Having a higher population and no police force of their own the village was told that around 70% of the calls to the Sheriff’s office are regarding incidents specifically in Hardin.
Following their discussion, the board decided to review and amend the agreement and present it to the county.
