Bluffdale's plan for its own police department leaves later payments to Saratoga Springs unset

Bluffdale is preparing to replace its contract with the Saratoga Springs Police Department with a city police department, according to the packet for the City Council's Oct. 14 meeting. The proposed agreement covering the transition does not yet set what Bluffdale will pay Saratoga Springs after this year. ^[1][5][6]

The Oct. 14 agenda lists Ordinance 2026-22, which would add a police department to the city code, and Resolution 2026-46, which would approve a new interlocal agreement with Saratoga Springs. ^[1]

The proposal

In an Oct. 8 staff report, City Attorney Fredric J. Donaldson wrote that the city "is beginning to transition from contracting for policing and law enforcement services to self-providing" them and "will soon hire its own law enforcement officers and staff." He wrote that the new department would operate under the agreement with Saratoga Springs until Bluffdale hires its own police chief. ^[2]

The proposed ordinance says the city will keep contracting with Saratoga Springs until all services are transitioned. ^[3]

The draft resolution says Saratoga Springs has provided police services to Bluffdale since May 14, 2013. ^[4]

The draft agreement

Under the draft agreement, the 2013 agreement would end on Dec. 31, 2026, and Bluffdale would hire officers and staff as city employees starting Jan. 1, 2027. From January through June 2027, Saratoga Springs would keep providing services and begin transitioning them. From July 2027 through June 2028, Bluffdale would hire a police chief and take on the remaining services. The agreement would end July 1, 2028, when the two departments would operate separately. ^[5]

Bluffdale would be responsible for buildings, vehicles, computers, software, firearms and other equipment for its officers, and would take control of its law enforcement records starting Jan. 1, 2027. ^[5]

Payments through Dec. 31, 2026 would follow the 2013 agreement. The payment schedule says payments for January through June 2027 would be set by an amendment adopted no later than Dec. 31, 2026, and payments for July 2027 through June 2028 by an amendment adopted no later than June 30, 2027. ^[6]

Budget changes

A proposed mid-year budget adjustment in the same packet would cut police professional services from $3,980,000 to $3,625,000 and add $210,000 for police salaries and $145,000 for benefits, for a "Lieutenant and two Sergeants for partial year as part of Phase 1 of transition." ^[7]

It would also add $155,000 for police equipment, noting "Police radios already received - covered by unspent budget from prior year," and $2,500 for fire department bank charges, funded with $157,500 from the fund's balance. ^[7]

Administrative Services Director Stephanie Thayer's Oct. 9 memo describes the police items as a "reallocation of existing Police Department funding for supervisory positions as part of Phase 1 of the transition, along with the cost of police radios from prior year." ^[8]

What officials have said about cost

At the June 10 meeting, City Manager Bruce Kartchner told the council the lieutenant would be hired in October 2026 and the sergeants in January 2027, according to the minutes. ^[11]

Draft minutes of the Sept. 23 council meeting, included in the Oct. 14 packet, record Kartchner saying he did not anticipate a significant budget adjustment in fiscal 2027. They record him saying he expected higher costs in the third phase, as Bluffdale assumed the full expense of a police chief, software systems, dispatch and other services, and that he expected to identify those costs by the following spring for the budget process. ^[9]

The packet's ordinance, resolution and budget adjustment have blank signature and vote lines. The records reviewed do not show how the council voted on Oct. 14. ^[3][4][12]