Buellton is giving itself more time to decide the future of law enforcement services in the city.
The City Council directed staff to pursue a one-year extension of its contract with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office. The contract is now set to expire June 30, 2028.
City Manager Scott Wolfe says the extra time will be used to compare the financial and service benefits of both the sheriff's office and Lompoc police, and to get input from the public.
The sheriff's contract is estimated to cost about $3.4 million in the 2027-28 fiscal year.
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The sheriff's office says its contract includes more than the deputy assigned to Buellton, giving the city access to county-wide resources including detectives, SWAP, forensics and crisis-intervention teams when needed.
A preliminary Lompoc police option is estimated at about $4.1 million a year, plus about $2.1 million in initial startup costs.
Wolfe says the Lompoc numbers are early estimates and could change depending on the final level of service.
