The Saratoga City Council is scheduled to decide Wednesday, Oct. 7, whether the city stays with the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office for police services or moves to the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department, ending a review that has run most of the year.
The city has contracted with the Sheriff's Office since it incorporated in 1956. According to the staff report posted with the agenda Friday, the review began when the county proposed on Dec. 31, 2025, a full cost-recovery contract that would have raised the annual bill by about $3 million, or 33%, for the same level of service.
Where the sheriff contract stands
Negotiations lowered the proposed 2026-27 cost from $12 million to $11.6 million, and the council then cut service hours to bring the annualized cost to about $10.6 million. In August the council approved a five-year agreement with the Sheriff's Office that took effect Oct. 1. Either side can end it with one year's notice.
To balance this year's budget, the council also trimmed $2 million from capital projects, $500,000 in extra pension payments and $400,000 from operations, the report says.
What Los Gatos is offering
Under the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno proposal, service would begin Nov. 1, 2027. Saratoga would join a regional department that also covers Los Gatos and Monte Sereno, with 16.5 new positions, including four patrol officers, a detective, a motor officer and a school resource officer, plus dispatch, records and support staff.
Saratoga's 911 police calls would go to the Los Gatos dispatch center; fire and medical calls would still be transferred to fire and EMS dispatch.
The proposed annualized cost for 2027-28 is $9.729 million: a $9.392 million base rate plus about $337,000 a year to recover startup costs, before interest and other allowed charges.