Amador County – The Plymouth City Council heard a report on its General Plan Update fiscal impact study on Tuesday, hearing that much of its spending is below average. Consultant Tom Trzcinski presented the study to the council and took questions. He said “I’ve never seen such a low service level of police,” noting that the city has 7/10ths of a “full time equivalent” police officer. City Finance Manager Jeff Gardner said that used to be one full officer. The contracted policing is done by the Amador County Sheriff’s Office and paid for by state grants. Plymouth and Amador City combine services and used to share 1 full-time officer each, policing areas inside and between both jurisdictions. Gardner said since then, it has fallen to 1-and-a-half full time equivalency officers, split between Plymouth and Amador City. City Manager Dixon Flynn said the city is “looking at the economics over time, not just an arbitrary number,” in its policing. Flynn said Citrus Heights began its own police department after contracting the work to the county sheriff, because “it costs you money when you take people to county jail, and it’s a lot of money.” Trzcinski said future policing “is the largest cost assumption in the study.” It assumed a cost of $214 per person or $535 per residential unit per year for police in new developments, assuming the need for 1.5 full-time officers per 1,000 people. Trzcinski said the city spends about $110,000 dollars per year on street work, also relatively low. The study said future service assumptions estimated $75,000 dollars spent annually per linear mile of new streets, annexed from the county. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.