Members of the Loxahatchee Groves Town Council suggested this month that the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBSO) is using the safety of children as leverage amid an ongoing contract dispute with the town.
The council discussed the current state of their contract negotiations with the PBSO at a special meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 16. Earlier this month, they decided not to pay the agency for their services after failing to reach a new, lower-price agreement.
Throughout previous meetings, council members emphasized that the town could not afford to continue paying the PBSO at its current price of about $680,000 yearly.
PBSO officials offered a one percent reduction to the overall contract, but that was not enough for the council. Since then, the agency has given few answers to what the lack of payment now means for Loxahatchee Groves.
According to Town Attorney Jeff Kurtz, deputies will continue to provide basic law enforcement services to the area. However, the PBSO will halt processing speeding violations for the town’s school zone program, will no longer have a deputy on site for council meetings, and will eventually stop supplying crossing guards near schools in the town.
Kurtz explained that PBSO officials said they understand that the council supports the agency, but they want them to find a way to pay for the contract.
“They have not decided exactly how they’re going to move forward in the absence of funding, and they are encouraging us to find a source,” Kurtz said.
One of the potential ways that the council can fund its monthly payments to the PBSO is through the recently launched School Zone Speed Enforcement Program, which was implemented to reduce speeding and improve safety. The program uses cameras to record drivers speeding near schools. Deputies then review and verify drivers’ information, so a $100 fine can be issued. In its first months, this has already proven to be a lucrative revenue source for the town, with the program already generating thousands of dollars.
Council members were not happy about how this would impact the program, especially with safety in school zones.
“They’re trying to use the kids as a leverage point,” Councilman Todd McLendon said. “We’re trying to protect those kids, and they’re saying we’re going to use them as a bargaining chip, and that’s wrong.”
Vice Mayor Marge Herzog pointed out how the PBSO’s decision will affect more than just the town, because many children from unincorporated areas attend Loxahatchee Groves Elementary School.
“They’re punishing more than just us by their action, and also the crossing guards,” Herzog said. “The PBSO is not playing fair.”
Other members of the council questioned why the town is being charged such a high price for PBSO services when other municipalities are paying less. They brought up how they believe that the town’s needs for law enforcement have not changed much since it incorporated.
Councilwoman Lisa El-Ramey was disconcerted about the PBSO’s suggestion of using money from the School Zone Speed Enforcement Program to pay for the contract and reiterated that there has not been much explanation as to why Loxahatchee Groves was given its current rate.
“These are revenues that we are hoping will offset some of our other costs,” El-Ramey said. “I think this is a longstanding issue for the town… the justification to increase these numbers on the town has not really existed.”
Town staff also tried to negotiate a two-zone approach to law enforcement services, where deputies would only provide full service to certain areas of the town where crime rates are the highest. However, PBSO officials only agreed to provide data to confirm if those specific parts of Loxahatchee Groves have the highest calls for service. The idea would be for the council to create a special taxing district, which would set up a new revenue source that could pay for the contract.
“It’s up to us to decide where these funds go; it’s not up to our vendor to decide to go through our finances and tell us what we can afford and what we can’t,” McLendon said.
With all these contentious suggestions, and both sides remaining unable to come to a compromise, negotiations are at an impasse. The council, at the meeting, asked the town attorney to draw up a mutual termination agreement.
El-Ramey said she wants to still try to negotiate, and there should be a fixed rate that the PBSO can charge to all municipalities.
“I’d like to see them come back and have a conversation,” El-Ramey said. “There should be a set price… I would just like to see an across-the-board, even number.”
The council will vote on whether to approve the termination at a future meeting.
Payment for the PBSO’s services for January under the current contract is due by Dec. 25, for which the council has not allocated funds. Town documents also indicate that officials from the agency have retained outside counsel to review the current state of the dispute and advise them on future actions.
