The 850 residents of the city of Isleton used to have their own police force, and may soon simply remember the days that there was an Isleton Fire Department. With just $450,000 in annual tax revenues, the fire department may be too expensive to operate.
The police department officially disbanded over the weekend as the City Council voted to transfer policing authority to the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department. The $180,000 per year contract was significantly less expensive than the estimated $500,000 that it would have taken to correct problems in the three-officer police force. Those officers have been subject to multiple grand jury investigations, and had two of its three officers either suspended or on leave.
Now, the city is looking to the neighboring River Delta Fire District to step in and take over responsibility for fire services. Before Isleton had its own fire department, it contracted with the RDFD. Re-merging the two agencies should be fairly easy.
The public safety cuts are just part of an overall package of cuts to services to try to save the struggling city.
Read the full article at News10.net