By Sara StrongNegotiations aren’t much further on the law enforcement contract between the city of Luverne and Rock County.Luverne Tuesday offered to pay $431,500 (a decrease of 28 percent) in contract fees to the county. Meanwhile, the county had budgeted the city to pay $669,000.County Commissioner Jane Wildung said, "To try, at a difficult tax time for federal, state, county and city government, to shift costs to one unit of government is a problem."She said the city has paid for law enforcement through a contract with the county, or on its own for a city police squad since 1898. Wildung said the city will lose service if it doesn’t want to fund the department as it has been.Mayor Glen Gust said, "The council’s opinion is that things change over time, and costs go up."County Attorney Don Klosterbuer said, "It isn’t really a fix to shift the costs to another unit of government. It’s unfortunate that there has been no talk about preserving services, just saving money."Along with changing the fee structure, the city would like to see the budgeting formula change. "As a partner in this, we feel it is fair to get more input on the budget," City Attorney Ben Vander Kooi said.Currently, the county’s budget for law enforcement encompasses all department costs. The city is requesting it be broken down into four different budgets that are funded differently.Patrol would be funded on a per hour basis; dispatch would be funded on the basis of population charge; support services wouldn’t get funded through a fee, and the city suggests a contingency fund. All of these take into consideration that city residents also pay county taxes that go toward funding law enforcement.Without the budgeted money from the city, the county maintains the department will change: patrol dog, the investigator, DARE program, deputies, and crossing guards are all potential cuts.The county asked City Administrator Greg LaFond and council representatives to come up with what services it thinks the city’s proposal will buy. The city said in response, that law enforcement is a statutory requirement of the county, and that it has to provide basic services outside of any contract.Sheriff Mike Winkels said different officers through various shifts spend 36 hours a day dealing with activity just in Luverne.Klosterbuer said, "The ultimate losers end up being citizens who want services."City takes surveyAll city residents this week received a survey asking their opinion on saving money and law enforcement.Councilman David Hauge supports the idea of this survey, even though it is unscientific and might hit a nerve with county people."It’s a philosophical gauge," he said of the surveys.He said he won’t hold the results as a determining factor in how the city does business, but said it will be interesting to see what response it gets."I just want to get beyond the bad blood and bitterness. I don’t want to break up the department," Hauge said.City staff wrote the survey, and got approval from council members to send it to residents. LaFond said, "A number of council members were emphatic that we should take the survey."He said informal surveys are generally good ways to get public opinion, and the city received 50 responses as of noon Wednesday."I think it’s helpful to seek citizen input," LaFond said.The survey contains statements from the city, such as, "City residents accounted for only 32 percent of the total inmate jail days in 2002 and 2003. However, City of Luverne taxpayers funded 60 percent of the total jail costs in 2003 and 2003."Then it asks the question, "Do you support the City Council’s efforts to eliminate the ‘premium tax’ of $500,000 levied against City taxpayers for funding the annual operating costs for the Law Enforcement/Sheriff’s Department Services? Yes or No."The survey went to 1,750 households at a cost of $1,210.02 for printing and mailing.