The perennial topic of paying for school crossing guards is once again up for debate.

City Council members were presented Tuesday with different options for continuing and paying for that service.

Walnut Creek pays about $110,000 a year to man crossings in two school districts. Paying for crossing guards has been a problem for Walnut Creek for the last few years; the police department has tried to drop the service from its budget and the City Council has come in at the last minute before an overall city budget is adopted and paid for the bulk of the guard funding out of its contingency fund.

But during the last budget process, council members said they wanted a better plan, instead of always deciding on a solution at the last minute.

City leaders reached out to surrounding cities about creating a regional crossing guard contract, possibly saving money. Most cities were either not interested, or in the middle of longer-term contracts, according to Jeremy Lochirco, Walnut Creek senior planner. But Concord stepped forward and wants to create a joint contract. Concord slashed its crossing guard spending in half last year by taking away some guards and cutting back on guards’ hours.

Walnut Creek council members said Tuesday they want to negotiate a new contract, and instructed city staff to meet with Concord to discuss teaming up.

“I see that we pay $15.30 an hour, which is apparently the highest around,” said Councilwoman

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Kristina Lawson. “I think it’s imperative that we renegotiate this contract.”