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South ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ City Manager Sixto Molina formally approached the city of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ this week, specifically asking ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ to provide daily police services from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. and take over South ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s fire and emergency medical services.

South ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ officials believe they can save between $200,000 and $300,000 by outsourcing at least some services. The city finds itself in the red as sales-tax revenues continue to fall while costs to maintain existing services continue to rise.

In a memo to the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ City Council, City Manager Michael Ortega said the city would address the request but he outlined a number of financial risks that come with such an arrangement.

In terms of policing the 1.2-square-mile city, Ortega said ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ would need to hire additional officers to patrol South ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ streets for the four-hour shift. He said it would also be a logistical problem as officers would have to carve out time to put evidence in storage and make court appearances.

On the Fire Department side, Ortega immediately ruled out ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ providing any kind of EMS service. In the memo, he hinted that South ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ has “other optionsâ€� when it comes to medical calls.

He later confirmed that Molina told him South ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ has been approached by a private vendor for EMS services.

Molina confirmed he is discussing contracting for EMS services with some private companies, but declined to elaborate as the talks are continuing.

In terms of responding to fire calls, Ortega said ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ could provide a fee for service to respond to calls but it would require hiring more firefighters.

An existing agreement between the two cities requires the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Fire Department to respond to structures fires in South ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, so it is unclear how this arrangement would change if the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ City Council signed off on expanding the agreement.

The agreement, a common practice in smaller communities, was put in place to protect the lives of South ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ firefighters, as a fully engulfed structure fire could easily be too much for the number of firefighters on duty.

Officials said the number of structure-fire calls requiring the city of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ to respond are relatively few, averaging less than 12 a year.

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ City Councilman Steve Kozachik was skeptical of any agreement, saying ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ needs to fully staff its police and fire departments before responding to calls in neighboring communities.

The projected budget deficit has the South ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ City Council considering laying off all of its firefighters and possibly some police officers.

The South ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Police Department has three open vacancies for patrol officers and the Fire Department has just three full-time employees, with more than two dozen part-time employees.