$24k purchase includes taxes, title
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office will soon have a 2013 Ford Taurus Interceptor, as commissioners agreed to the purchase on April 16.
The county board of commissioners asked Polk County Manager Ryan Whitson to order the vehicle, and commissioners plan to approve a budget amendment during the board’s next meeting.
During discussions about buying a new vehicle last month. some commissioners said they wanted to go forward with the purchase but others were hesitant because of concerns sheriff Donald Hill expressed. Hill asked commissioners to wait until he sees whether the sheriff’s office budget will have overages because of the high costs of housing female inmates at other jails.
Whitson said the costof the vehicle will be approximately $24,000, but those costs include taxes and title to the vehicle. The new Ford Taurus is Ford’s replacement for the Crown Victoria, the previous patrol car.
Whitson also said he would like to go ahead and purchase the new vehicle out of the current fiscal year budget. The county had planned to purchase the vehicle out of its fuel contingency budget, which has approximately $24,000 remaining, but because of some overages in fuel and possible overages in the future, Whitson said he is unsure whether the fuel contingency budget will cover the purchase. The county may take the purchase out of its fund balance, which will be reimbursed next fiscal year from any overages in this year’s budget. The county’s new budget year begins July 1.
The vehicle, which will be an unmarked Ford Taurus Interceptor, should arrive over the next few months.