FORT WAYNE – Allen County Commissioner Therese Brown said she did not work with Mayor Tom Henry on a deal to end a 6-year-old agreement allowing the city and county to share the costs for local homeland security efforts.

Brown on Monday said Henry did discuss the joint department with her recently, but “I in no way agreed that the county would necessarily be taking it over … I was not at all expecting that.”

Henry last week sent a letter to the commissioners stating he was ending the six-year “experiment” of the city and county operating and financing a joint homeland security department. On Saturday Henry said the decision was made to reduce costs for the city, noting that counties are typically responsible for overseeing emergency management preparations.

At the time, Henry said he discussed his decision with Brown.

Brown, however, said she had no idea the mayor was planning to end the agreement with the county and said she was “taken aback” by the letter Henry sent.

“It’s not really all working toward the common good,” she said of ending the partnership. “I don’t see the need to make a change so dramatically or rapidly.”

Controller Pat Roller said Henry did make his intentions clear to Brown.

“The mayor did say that homeland security needed to go back to the county,” Roller said. “It was a county responsibility by state statute.”

The joint agreement was signed on Feb. 15, 2006, after years of work to merge separate city and county security departments and was touted as a model for the state by then-Mayor Graham Richard. Henry, however, called the relationship a special circumstance that wasn’t necessary.

On Saturday he said his decision to end the joint venture was made to save the city money. If the joint department is terminated, Henry said the director and all his functions would revert to the county.

But Brown questioned the point of the move because the department involves a relatively small dollar amount within the city’s $180.4 million budget.

Under the agreement, the city pays for Homeland Security Director Bernie Beier’s salary, benefits and vehicle, although 25 percent of his salary and benefits are reimbursed by the county and half of his salary is reimbursed by the federal government.

“What does it really save?” Brown asked.

According to financial documents provided by Roller, the city spent $116,613 on the department in 2011. It expects to receive $26,603 from the county and $44,655 from the state for those costs, leaving it with a net total expense of $45,355.

That data were confirmed by the commissioner’s office. The county last year paid $162,065 toward the joint department, covering its other two employees and expenses.

Brown said the commissioners will write a response to the mayor in the near future regarding the issue.

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