Tekoa will not add police hours

The City of Tekoa has decided to hold off on adding more police patrol hours.

After further discussion at its March 2 meeting, the city council decided not to pursue an added 10 hours per week from the Whitman County Sheriff's Department, which would cost an estimated $25,000 per year.

The council previously discussed the matter at the Feb. 3 meeting and decided to wait on a decision because of the cost.

The council first discussed the matter in December.

The town now contracts with the sheriff's department for 20 hours per week of patrols, paying $48,919 in 2020, a schedule set in 2009, when the hours were cut by about half – saving the city $40,000 per year during the recession.

If the council now decided to add hours, the expenditure would have come from a budget amendment to transfer funds from the town's general fund.

Aside from the sheriff's patrols, Mike Bogenreif acts as Tekoa's code enforcement officer.