An Oakland County commission decision to increase sheriff department contract costs is forcing county municipalities and school districts to make tough budget decisions.

Last November, commissioners approved 2025-27 rates for contracted services from the Oakland County Sheriff’s department.

The approval resulted in an average cost increase of 15.2% in the first year of each contract, followed by 9% increases in the second and third years.

The 10-9 vote set the rate for each school resource officer at $187,116 (2025), $204,144 (2026) and $222,721 (2027). The cost includes a vehicle and all sheriff’s department resources.

“We are dangerously getting close to an edge where our municipalities are not going to want to do business with Oakland County anymore,” said Michael Spisz, District 5 commissioner, before voting against the new contract. “We are making it very difficult for them.”

The seven school districts — Brandon, Walled Lake, South Lyon, Rochester, Oxford, Pontiac and Lake Orion — and Oakland County Technical Campuses (OSTC) that contract for school resource officers are adjusting to the increases. Each district has a different arrangement and how the school officers are paid for.

The Districts

Oxford Community Schools has one school officer at the high school and one at the middle school. Nine months of the year, Oxford schools pay for the SROs, while the remaining three months are paid by Oxford Township.

According to the agreement recently approved by the township board, the annual cost for both school officers in 2025 will be $374,232 and the cost will increase to $408,288 in 2026 and $445,442 in 2027.

South Lyon and Pontiac each have safety officers paid for through a state Section 31aa grant, which provides per-pupil funding to districts for activities to improve student mental health, including hiring or contracting support staff including school psychologists, social workers, counselors, and school school safety officers. Section 31aa is within the Public Safety Act of 2024.

South Lyon has been getting school officers through Lyon Township’s contract with the sheriff’s department for over five years. The district covers 100% of the cost for the school officers during the school year and the township covers 100% of the cost for the rest of the year.

“The increase is significant and could be difficult for districts to fund and/or sustain over time,” said South Lyon Superintendent Steve Archibald. “In addition, increases of this magnitude reduce the already limited funds we have available for other safety related initiatives.”

He added, “Schools should not be put in a position to have to reduce spending on teaching and learning in order to provide a safe school environment for our students and staff.”

Pontiac has three school officers in the district and began contracting with the county back in 2015. Their current contract is for $571,388, increasing to $657,096 with the 15% increase.

“As long as we are able to continue to cover the cost with our grant, cost increases are not an issue,” said Heidi Hedquist, Pontiac’s communications director.

One district struggling with the price increase is Clarkston.

On Feb. 4, Independence Township approved a three-year contract to continue public safety coverage by the sheriff’s department, which township Supervisor Chuck Phyle said will result in a budget impact of over $1.3 million.

Because of the increase, the township is asking the Clarkston district to take on more of the cost of four school officers currently assigned to its schools.

The district pays 50% of the cost for all officers during the school year, while Independence Township covers the other half for three officers, and Springfield Township pays half for the fourth.

John Lucido, Clarkston assistant superintendent of administrative services, said the cost to the district is $630,000 annually and estimates the cost will rise to $750,000.

“I believe we can work out a solution, but this is a major hit,” said Phyle of Independence Township. “I think the next 12 months is going to be challenging at best, painful most likely. From there on we have to look at alternative options.”

Clarkston Superintendent Shawn Ryan has been discussing options with Phyle and the county, but has yet to agree upon a revised contract.

“My hope is they will restructure these increases or look at other areas besides safety and security,” Ryan said of the county commissioners’ decision. “If there is no relief, the district may be faced with choosing between keeping first or secondary teachers or student safety. I can’t tolerate either one of those things.”

There has been one school officer assigned to each of the four Oakland Technical campuses since 2023.

The Oakland Intermediate School District contracts with the sheriff’s office for each calendar year. The cost for 2024 was $694,608 and the cost for 2025 is $748,464, a 9% increase. “While the safety and security of our students and staff is our top priority, we are committed to being fiscally responsible and ensuring that all expenditures are justified,” said Oakland Schools Superintendent Ken Gutman. “We continually evaluate our security measures to ensure they are effective and efficient.”

Rochester schools has four school officers from the sheriff’s office and two officers from the Rochester Police Department.

The costs for the district’s school officers are shared between the district, Rochester, Rochester Hills and Oakland Township.

The district pays 25% of the costs for the deputies and police officers, and 100% of the costs for the detective sergeant. The remaining 75% of the costs are shared by Rochester, Rochester Hills and Oakland Township.

Currently, the district pays $419,180 annually for the school officer program.

“Rochester Community Schools values the partnership of our school resource officers who protect our community and provide the guidance to ensure a safe and secure environment in our schools. We are truly grateful for the support of the City of Rochester, City of Rochester Hills, and Oakland Township who share the costs for this valuable service,” said Superintendent Nicholas Russo. “As we build our future budgets, we consider many elements to optimally provide for the safety and security of our community.”

Lake Orion has been contracting through Orion Township since 2018 and has two school officers. They split the cost with the township, each picking up half the bill. According to the district, the cost for fiscal year 2025 is $75,264 and will increase to $86,554 next year.

Brandon and Walled Lake did not respond to a request for information.

The Adjustments

Some townships paying for services with money from public safety millages will need to make their own adjustments.

Lyon Township voters approved a 10-year millage in August 2024 for police coverage and Independence Township passed a three-year public safety millage in 2023.

Oxford Township also approved a three-year police service millage last August, which included a $650,000 investment in their sheriff’s department substation.

“We are looking at a $1.5 to $1.8 million dollar cost (for school officers over three years). It’s huge across the board,” said Independence Township Supervisor Phyle. “We did not have the funds and we did not anticipate it.”

Bob Hoffman, the District 7 commissioner representing Brandon, Groveland, Holly, Rose and Springfield townships, said the increase occurred because municipalities were not paying the full amount for police coverage and the county subsidized the remaining cost.

Hoffman, who voted against the cost increase, said commissioners were caught off guard by proposed changes.

“We heard about it probably after the municipalities heard about it and they had no conversations in advance,” said Hoffman. “Most municipalities have already set their budgets. These are our customers. They deserve better.”

Orion Township Supervisor Chris Barnett spoke out against the price hikes at the November commission meeting.

“The chair (Dave Woodward) stated this is a 15-year problem,” he said. “You did a study 18 months ago, but somehow waited until after the election, when 10 of the 12 municipalities have calendar year budgets,” said Barnett. “We start a new budget on Jan. 1. None of us budgeted for a 15% or 36% increase over three years. No email, no snail mail, no phone calls … this stinks. This is not a partnership.”

Hoffman also said the structure of the deal was unfair.

“Since this came up so quickly, we need to ease them (municipalities) into this; stretch it out over a few years,” he said. “Because these people have already set their budgets. It is not like they have a pot of money laying around to cover these price changes for public safety.”

According to the National Association of Resource Officers, the first documented school officer was hired in Flint in 1953 as a community policing strategy. The Flint school district hoped placing police officers in schools would improve the relationship between local officers and youth. The district and police considered the program to be a success, and it would become a model for future schools that would adopt the school officer program.