The Town Crier article "Los Altos Hills City Council discusses town budget” dated May 28, 2024 by Curtis Driscoll states:

“The proposed 2024-2025 budget for police administration expenditures is around $3.53 million, an increase from last year of around $2.92 million, according to a city staff presentation at a May 21, 2024 budget meeting. The increase is stark compared to the $1.96 million the city allocated in the 2020-2021 budget and $2.12 million in the 2021-2022 year. The 2025-2026 budget calls for $3.65 million in funding.”
[Emphasis added.]

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While spending has increased, unfortunately, the financial figures cited in the article are confusing and incorrect. Specifically, the $2.92 million number cited above is erroneous.

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Due to the rise in burglaries in LAH the Council authorized increased spending beginning in FY’23 (July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023) and again in FY’24. The spending was to cover additional sheriff department overtime and the addition of a private patrol service.  When high levels of burglaries continued in FY’24, sheriff overtime and private patrol authorized spending was doubled. While it is difficult to associate directly cause and effect, the good news is that burglary levels have declined in recent months.

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The proposed FY’25 (2024-25) budget of $3.53 million assumes continuing public safety efforts at the current, “higher-level” spending rate.  This is not a $2.92 million increase from the current year or the prior year. Actual spending for public safety in 2021-22 and 2022-23 was approximately $ 2.3 million and $3.1 million, respectively.  Spending for FY’24, which will end on June 30, 2024, is estimated to be about $3.3 million, an increase of about $200K, or 6% over the previous year. Thus, the 2024-25 public safety budget of $3.53 million is $200K higher than the 2023-24 projected expense of $3.3 million. It is unclear where the $2.92 million number comes from since the phrase "last year" in the article is not explicit.

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We hope the Town Crier will correct these errors.

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Note: So as to show actual cost incurred in each year, the $432,000 of additional expense incurred in FY’23 but not billed until FY’24 has been included in the amount for FY’23, where it was incurred, and not in FY’24 when it was paid.  Also, the Town is changing its accounting method going forward to eliminate the Citizens’ Public Safety Fund (COPS fund) and consolidate all public safety spending in one area.  Past expenditures in the COPS Fund have been combined with past public safety spending to make an apples-to-apples comparison.