Bartow to Consider PCSO Contract

BARTOW | City Manager George Long plans to provide Bartow city commissioners with a detailed list of pros and cons about a proposed contract to replace the city's police service with the Polk County Sheriff's Office when they meet tonight.

"I intend to put both sides on the table," he said Sunday evening. "I have tried to view this in as balanced perspective as I can."

But Long wouldn't say whether he would give commissioners, who tabled the discussion less than a year ago, any recommendation about replacing the city's Police Department.

"Whether they take action is going to be up to the commission," Long said.

Commissioners may vote on the proposed contract at tonight's meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Bartow City Hall. The meeting is open to the public, who will be able to speak during a comment period. A work session begins at 5 p.m. and is also open to the public.

If commissioners give a favorable vote to the switch, it would save the city an estimated $107,000 in the coming year in new purchases for the department, which include 13 police pursuit vehicles and upgrades to the department's communication system.

The vehicles, which total about $357,500, would be financed for five years.

The proposed three-year contract by PCSO is projected save the city about $740,000 in the first year. If approved, the contract would not begin until October.

In the agreement, Bartow would pay the Sheriff's Office $4.6 million for service this coming year, with the stipulation that if gas prices exceeded the $4 a gallon average, Bartow would pay additional expenses.

In the fall, Bartow considered a plan for the Sheriff's Office to take over but decided to delay a decision until a new city manager was hired.

The contract is one of a series of proposals by the Sheriff's Office in recent years that have been accepted by other Polk cities, including Frostproof, Polk City, Fort Meade and Eagle Lake.

[ Reporter Suzie Schottelkotte contributed to this story. Jeremy Maready can be reached at 863-802-7592 or jeremy.maready@theledger.com. ]