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Santa Barbara County Looks At Law Enforcement Costs For Cities It Serves

A man was hot, and seriously injured in a confrontation with Santa Barbara County Sheriff's deputies Wednesday.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office
A man was hot, and seriously injured in a confrontation with Santa Barbara County Sheriff's deputies Wednesday.

Santa Barbara County provides law enforcement services for four cities in the county, and a new study shows that the county is actually subsidizing some costs.

County Sheriff’s Deputies serve Buellton, Carpinteria, Goleta, and Solvang, which don’t have their own police departments.

As the county started reviewing contracts coming up for renewal, officials noticed there were no standardized agreements. They are trying to fix it, which will allow for better cost estimates.

The latest figures show Buellton’s costs are going up 27% over the next fiscal year, and Solvang’s 29%. To make the situation manageable for the cities, officials are proposing to phase in cost increases over the next few years.

Estimated law enforcement costs for Carpinteria and Goleta are down for the new fiscal year. County supervisors are set to review the situation tomorrow.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral. 
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