Politics

Commissioners endorse new charge for 'enhanced' sheriff's coverage

By Bill Moss, Published: May 20, 2015

Plunging again into the question of who gets what services, who pays and how much, Henderson County commissioners today ordered county administrators to offer a price list of “enhanced” law enforcement coverage to the two towns in the county with no police department.

Triggering a crossfire between the county and towns over double taxation and who is paying a greater burden and who is getting free ride, the commissioners have debated the question several times this year. Until today, they adopted a price list that would essentially create an invoice for extra deputies or specific enforcement if Flat Rock and Mills River elected to buy.

Hendersonville, Laurel Park and Fletcher have police departments. Mills River pays $70,000 a year for a sheriff’s deputy to patrol 40 hours a week. The Village of Flat Rock has no police department and does not pay the sheriff’s department anything for law enforcement coverage.
“One of the things in discussions with the county manager’s office we’ve talked about is do the revenues that we bring in from Mills River actually cover the cost,” Sheriff Charlie McDonald said. “I have to provide service as the sheriff to all the citizens of the community and we’re certainly glad to do that…. We’re really good on the service provider side but we’re not really at negotiating fees and prices and contracts. I do believe there are some entities that are not fully covering the cost of the services that we are providing.”
Commissioners wanted to know whether the sheriff has to provide service in towns that don’t pay directly for it. (Flat Rock and Mills River town officials say its citizens, like those in the unincorporated area, pay for the coverage through their county property taxes.)
“It has been explained to me by folks at the School of Government that there is no constitutional requirement or statutory requirement for the sheriff’s department to provide law enforcement within a municipality,” County Manager Steve Wyatt said. “However, there’s case law that says if you get a call you respond. You don’t have to patrol but you have to respond. …
“It’s a public policy question what services are provided to whom at what level and how they’re paid for,” Wyatt said. “There’s no question that the citizens of Hendersonville, Laurel Park and Fletcher are basically paying for police services within those municipalities but they’re also paying for sheriff’s service for Mills River and Flat Rock. Obviously, Mills River and Flat Rock don’t want to pay more. Nobody does.”
Commissioners agreed with Wyatt and McDonald that sheriff’s deputies should respond to calls about a shooting, a burglary, an assault and other crimes or public safety matters. Based on a cost analysis by the county staff of salary and benefits and motor vehicle and equipment costs, commissioners directed Wyatt to offer Flat Rock and Mills River the option of “enhanced” law enforcement coverage. The cost for Flat Rock would be $62 an hour, or $129,000 a year for a 40-hour-per-week deputy. The cost for Mills River would be $109,137, $20,000 less because Mills River under its current agreement is already paying for a sheriff's cruiser.

If their satisfied with the same level of coverage that the sheriff deploys countywide, the towns won't have to pay anything.
“The real solution would be for both of those incorporated areas to have their own law enforcement, which the other incorporated areas have,” said Commissioner Grady Hawkins. “Whether or not those municipalities choose to go down that road is something that the individual government will have to choose. So far neither one has elected to provide that higher level of service.”
Wyatt will send Mills River and Flat Rock a letter informing them of the county’s decision.
“I’m hearing the board say that if we provide enhanced services then we need to get paid for it,” he said. “They need to pay up for whatever enhanced services they need from the sheriff’s department. You would offer the municipalities an hourly type of contract where they would select the number of hours and would work with the sheriff to determine when those hours are.”
Board Chairman Tommy Thompson has been the leading advocate for charging the towns for certain services, including sheriff’s patrols and fire inspections.
“I know Mills River thinks we’re picking on them and the media thinks we’re picking on them,” he said. In one discussion, “there was some suggestion that Mills River and Fletcher could combine and have a police force between the two of them.”
In a related dispute over fire inspection fees, the county said it would charge Mills River for fire inspections the fire marshal conducts at businesses and industrial plants. The Mills River Town Council balked at that, sending a letter to the Board of Commissioners in which it said it would not pay.