The City has entered into various agreements accepting Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) reimbursements from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) since September 2002. The reimbursements have always partially offset the labor costs associated with providing LEO coverage at the TSA's security screening area. The most recent Reimbursement Agreement expired on September 30, 2012. A new program was offered by the TSA through a Federal solicitation process that took place in August 2012. The City submitted an application on August 31, 2012 and was recently notified that it was awarded partial reimbursement for LEO coverage at the screening areas for the three-year program period of October 1, 2012 through September 30, 2015.  As with prior programs, the TSA distributes funds for one 12-month period at a time. The TSA's first distribution to the Airport is $116,800 for the October 1, 2012 to September 30, 2013 funding period. The City must acknowledge its acceptance of this award by executing a new Statement of Joint Objectives (SOJO).  A copy of the SOJO is on file in the City Clerk's Office.

The City Council has two options to consider:

• Enter into this new LEO Reimbursement Agreement with the TSA and receive a partial reimbursement for the City's "fully-burdened" labor costs to provide law enforcement support of TSA's passenger screening area. The fully-burdened labor costs include base salary, social security, 457 plans, health, life and disability insurance costs, as well as the City's portion of the retirement costs.
• Do not enter into this Reimbursement Agreement. If this option is chosen, the City will still incur the costs to provide law enforcement support of the security screening area to prevent a disruption of commercial air service in Billings; however, the City would not be reimbursed for these costs and would bear the full cost of providing this service.

Under the terms of this Agreement, the City will be authorized to receive partial reimbursement of the Airport's law enforcement officers' actual wage and benefit costs for the time the officers spend at screening and checkpoint areas, and on other TSA mandated activities.  The first year's fully-burdened costs have been estimated at $214,854. The Agreement would reimburse the City $116,800, or approximately 54% of the total cost of providing this service.  Future reimbursements are subject to availability of Federal funding.

Staff recommends that Council approve the LEO Reimbursement Program Other Transactional Agreement #HSTS0213HSLR757 with the Transportation Security Administration accepting partial LEO reimbursement for the three-year program, and authorize the Mayor to execute the SOJO to acknowledge the City's acceptance.