Sheriff vehicles stay within budget

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office is almost caught up on vehicle acquisitions, in part through a deal with Cascade County that netted them four vehicles for about the cost of one.

Lincoln County Undersheriff Brian Griffeth said that two vehicles paid for with assistance from a federal grant will put the department where it needs to be with vehicles. He said they expect to have the two new vehicles in operation later this year.

On May 22, the Lincoln County Commissioners approved the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development grant for $31,700. County Finance Director Wendy Drake said that the county’s match for is $58,900.

Griffeth said the grant and match will cover the entire cost of purchasing and outfitting the new vehicles.

In comparison to the cost of new vehicles, the four the department purchased earlier this year from Cascade County were a significant savings, he said. The department paid about $43,000 for all four, and the vehicles — on average — had mileage in the range of 60,000 miles.

Griffeth said the four used vehicles were purchased within the existing budget for the year.

In addition to getting a good deal on the cost of the vehicles, the Cascade County vehicles also came already outfitted with equipment such as light bars.

“They had everything in it — camera systems, cages — all we had to do is put our radios in them,” he said. The department was able to use radios they had from old vehicles, so no new purchases were needed there either.

Griffeth estimated that the cost of applying Lincoln County decals to the Cascade County vehicles ran about $1,200 for all four.

The Cascade County vehicles enabled the department to replace vehicles such as 2001 and 2003 Ford Crown Victorias that were used as jail transport vehicles, Griffeth said. “They were just well past their prime.”

“We were behind a little bit, and there were a lot of variables that caused us to be behind,” Griffeth said. “But, this gets us back up to where we need to be in this current fiscal year.

The department should now be on track to regularly replace a couple vehicles each year, he said.