County tries to buy new sheriff’s vehicles despite cuts
The county’s Safety Committee decided Thursday night to try and find a way to fund several new vehicles for the sheriff’s department this year.
The move comes despite a bitter and divisive battle last year over substantial cuts to the sheriff’s department in the 2003-2004 budget which, at that time, precluded the purchase of new cars.
During last year’s budget talks, commissioners, who were trying to cut 6 percent across the board from county budgets, took $173,000 from the sheriff’s department budget, including an estimated $100,000 that was earmarked to purchase vehicles. Commissioners had asked Sheriff Jackie Matheny to help decide how to trim his budget but Matheny refused, saying there was really no way to make cuts to an already tight budget.
“It’s not there,” Matheny said last July. “I know you all have got a tough decision, and I’m not trying to be hard or anything else.”
With essentially no input from Matheny, commissioners apparently assumed new vehicles would not be a high priority in day-to-day operations and made their most extensive cuts there. However, with maintenance costs to repair aging vehicles rising considerably, and an economic environment that has created what amounts to a buyers market in the automotive industry, the commission has decided to rethink its views concerning the replacement of sheriff’s department vehicles.
A report from the sheriff’s department shows that, out of a list of some 50 vehicles in the sheriff’s fleet, four have more than 200,000 miles and six more are approaching that mark.
Upon learning of several promotions from car manufacturers which offered lucrative lease deals for municipalities, particularly on SUV-type vehicles, chief deputy and Commissioner Danice Taylor asked the Safety Committee to contact local dealers and request bid proposals.
With some of the big three dealerships offering deals on SUVs, such as the Dodge Durango and Ford Explorer, for less than $20,000, a substantial savings over list price, committee members agreed it was probably a good time to buy.
Taylor recommended the SUVs as being good replacements for some of the police cruisers due to the increased durability and, with six-cylinder engines, better overall gas mileage. Sheriff Matheny, at an earlier meeting, also touted the vehicles, noting occasions where the additional clearance they offer would be a benefit.
“We’ve got great county roads. I’m not fussing,” Matheny said. “But we’ve still got a lot of roads that are just rough and it’s hard on patrol cars.” Matheny also mentioned the increased durability. “That’s another thing, like an Explorer or Durango type vehicle, it is more durable. It’s kind of designed to take a beating.”
However, as Safety Committee members soon discovered, the problem is coming up with the funds for any type of vehicle purchases without opening up the budget, which County Executive Kenneth Rogers adamantly opposes with this year’s budget talks coming up within four months.
Still, car dealers have made it clear these deals may not last much longer since manufacturers will soon be changing over to the new model year. Committee members agreed there was a possibility of money available in the sheriff’s budget to make the purchases, but since there was no budget specifically listed for the purchase of vehicles, the money would have to be transferred within the sheriff’s current budget and then replaced when the new budget is set up later this year.
But Rogers was quick to point out the Safety Committee could not do this on its own.
“The sheriff will have to request that we make this transfer,” Rogers said. “We’ve got to pull that budget and study it.”
The Safety Committee eventually voted to make that recommendation which, once approved by the sheriff, would then move through the Purchasing Committee, the Budget and Finance Committee, and finally to the full commission for its vote.