Many cities in Washington County could see a decrease in law enforcement costs due to an additional allocation from the city of Riverside.

Due in part to the high volume of calls at the casino, Riverside plans to add $70,000 to their contract, which would lower contract amounts for other cities in the county. Dollar amounts paid by each city for law enforcement are calculated using a formula based on local property valuations and population counts. This year, a change was made in the formula to use four years of property valuations, rather than just the current year.

Sheriff Jared Schneider believes that using multiple years of valuation will add consistency to the numbers, while also allowing information to get out sooner. “[It] helps us get the dollar amount to the cities faster when we’re working off numbers that we already have. When we start the budget process, we should be able to get the towns their dollar amount for their contracts a little sooner than we have in the past.”

Contract amounts for law enforcement coverage include $31,676 for Ainsworth, $41,197 for Brighton, $15,620 for Crawfordsville, $239,417 for Kalona, $220,401 for Riverside, $115,967 for Wellman, and $10,334 for West Chester. The proposed numbers will be taken to the respective city councils for approval.