DATE: June 4, 2024
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: John Zanoni, Sheriff-Coroner-Public Administrator
SUBJECT: Retroactive Agreement with Fresno City College, a college of the State Center Community College District
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a retroactive revenue Agreement with Fresno City College, a college of the State Center Community College District, to allow the Sheriff’s Office to offer law enforcement educational courses and share revenue from the training provided by the Sheriff’s Office through Fresno City College, effective from May 1, 2024 through April 30, 2029 (estimated at $796,148).
REPORT
Approval of the recommended action will continue the County’s partnership with Fresno City College (FCC), a college of the State Center Community College District (SCCCD), which will allow the Sheriff’s Office to continue offering law enforcement educational courses and instruction through FCC Police Academy for five, one-year periods. The recommended agreement also allows the County to receive 60% in each academic year of the state base apportionment earned due to eligible instructional Full-Time Equivalent Student (FTES) hours (i.e. based on a percentage of the fees collected for the instructional courses). This enables the County to offset a portion of the cost for the Sheriff’s Training Unit. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
No viable alternative action exists to provide reimbursement costs for law enforcement in-service education. The recommended revenue agreement provides money to offset a portion of the costs to provide the education to public safety personnel. The classes exist to educate public safety personnel, thereby improving the service to the community. Without the reimbursement funds, in-service education classes would be reduced or limited, or personnel would be sent to costly outside venues to receive California Peace Officer Standards Training (POST) mandated training.
RETROACTIVE AGREEMENT:
This recommended agreement is retroactive due to the length of time required for approval of the agreement. The signed agreement was received from FCC on May 16, 2024.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. The recommended revenue agreement will enable the continuation of the FCC law enforcement educational courses and instructional courses for Sheriff employees. The law enforcement educational courses and instruction are authorized by the California Education Code and Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations to conduct instruction, assessment and counseling services to serve community needs. Under the recommended agreement revenues from FCC are estimated to be based on a percentage per year. FCC shall pay the County 60% each academic year (July 1st through June 30th) starting with fiscal year 2023-2024 of the state apportionment earned due to eligible instructional FTES hours. The estimated number of student hour(s) reimbursement under the recommended agreement will be in the range of 7,000 to 10,000. FCC receives a yearly budget to reimburse local agencies for this service.
The Sheriff’s Training Unit is responsible for providing training for the Sheriff employees. Under the recommended agreement the cost for FY 2023-24 training is $75,622 (560 hours of training x Master Schedule of Fees rate of $135.04 for a Deputy Sheriff). The revenue from FCC is estimated to partially offset the personnel costs associated for training under the recommended agreement. The estimated number of student hour(s) reimbursement under the recommended agreement will be in the range of 7,000 to 10,000. Anticipated revenue budgeted at $119,465 for the Sheriff-Coroner-Public Administrator Org 3111 FY 2023-24 adopted budget. The Sheriff’s Office received $198,994 for the SCCCD ISA courses. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenue will be included in future budget requests.
Classes that are eligible for reimbursement through FCC may also be eligible to be reimbursed by POST. It is anticipated that some of the cost for the courses will be reimbursed by POST as a first revenue source; therefore actual revenue from FCC will be significantly less.
DISCUSSION:
On May 25, 2021, your Board approved an agreement for FY 2020-21 that allowed the Sheriff’s Office to continue its partnership with SCCCD based on a percentage of the fees collected for the instructional courses. The Sheriff’s Office receives revenue from SCCCD based on a percentage for the current Agreement A-21-178.
The approval of the recommended action will allow the Sheriff’s Office, through FCC, to provide law enforcement training courses through FCC’s Police Academy. The partnership is very beneficial, since FCC will provide ancillary and support services (i.e., counseling, guidance, and job placement assistance) and college credits to Police Academy students. Since the Sheriff’s Office provides instructors for the course, the FCC shall pay the County 60% each academic year (July 1st through June 30th) starting with fiscal year 2023-2024 of the state apportionment earned due to eligible instructional FTES hours. This is the same amount paid to other law enforcement agencies for the same type of services. Most of the instructional hours are for new hires going through the Fresno City College Police Academy.
The recommended agreement with FCC differs from the County’s model contract in that it contains a mutual indemnification clause. This has the effect of making each party responsible for losses, costs, expenses, liabilities, damages, or claims arising from their own actions or inactions. The recommended agreement also excludes attorney’s fees in its indemnification provisions, which is not the County standard. The recommended agreement contains a separate provisions that provides that if either party is required to commence any proceeding or legal action to enforce or interpret any term, covenant, or condition of the agreement, the prevailing party will be entitled to recover from the other party its reasonable attorney’s fees and legal expenses. The Sheriff’s Office believes that the benefits of the recommended Agreement outweigh any potential risks and recommends approval of the agreement as a prudent business decision.
This agreement can be terminated by either party upon written notice given to the other party at least thirty days prior to the end of the term in which classes are currently in session. The recommended agreement with FCC will be effective May 1, 2024 through April 30, 2029. Fresno and Clovis Police Departments signed their Instructional Service Agreement with the five-year term. Therefore, the recommended agreement is also for a five-year term, to be consistent with neighboring agencies, and to allow for a quicker renewal process.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #29, May 25, 2021
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - Agreement with SCCCD
CAO ANALYST:
Fine Nai