Joint Powers Agreement on hold

An arrangement outlining the rendering of services and payment for such between the city and county is on hold, as more information is being sought.

The Clovis city commission tabled approval of the Joint Powers Agreement between the city and county after a motion by Commissioner Fidel Madrid, who sought specific data on the amount of funds spent on jail inmates, fire protection efforts and other services.

Officials said in the late 1990s the city and county entered into a universal service agreement that would cover all of the services exchanged between the city and the county, resulting in a net payment from the city to the county as a means of modifying those annual negotiations for all of the various services.

“The previous agreement, in the form of a Joint Powers Agreement, was submitted in June (2016) to the city commission to be extended and was approved by the Commission at the rate of $160,000 by the city to the county annually, in monthly installments,” City Attorney David Richards said. “Because all Joint Powers Agreements are required to be approved by the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA), the extension was submitted to DFA and rejected on the basis the previous Joint Powers Agreement already had expired — and they did not want to extend an expired agreement. The recommendation of DFA was to go back and do a new agreement. Questions have been raised regarding the appropriateness of the payments, the terms of which would expire in 2020.”

The agreement, following city approval, will then be considered by the Curry County Commission.

Richards said in addition to the $160,000 annual payment from the city to the county, there would be an escalation of $15,000 through the term of the agreement beginning July 1, 2017.

Commissioner Ladona Clayton said she would like greater clarity with regard to the additional funds included in the pact.

“My concern was for quantifying some data to support this increase of $15,000 per year and try to substantiate exactly what the cost is of housing municipal prisoners,” she said. “If we could track data through the municipal court to see how many prisoners are flowing through and at what cost that is, so that we could actually share over a three year term of this Joint Powers Agreement what that would look like. It would be great to have some data that would support the costs we are incurring.”

Mayor David Lansford echoed Clayton’s sentiments.

“I want to thank Mr. Fry for working on this along with Mr. Richards,” he said. “This has been a long process and every time this contract reemerges, it’s a difficult contract to negotiate. I agree with Commissioner Clayton in that it’s probably a good idea to collect data not only as it relates to municipal prisoners, but with respect to all services the city receives and offers in this particular agreement.”

Officials said the multi-purpose agreement would provide for:

• Vector Control to provide services in Curry County

• Emergency preparedness to provide a joint defense organization to be prepared for and function in the event of emergencies that endanger the lives and property of the residents of the city and county

• A call taker for after hour dispatch personnel in the county

• Library services to county and city residents

• Transportation to the elderly residents of the city

• Fire protection services to serve the city and surrounding environs of the county

• EMS and ambulance services to serve the city and surrounding environs of the county. And county ambulance services are defined as:

a) an ambulance run originating outside the incorporated city limits of Clovis.

b) a response to the city ambulance to an area outside the city limits.

• Detention and jail services for the city and county.

Officials said payments made under the Joint Powers Agreement are made to defray a portion of the operational costs incurred for the use and benefit of the facilities, programs or services by county residents.