MONROE - The Finance and Taxation Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to plunk down about $73,000, sooner rather than later, to replace four marked squad cars in the Monroe Police Department. Trade-ins are expected to bring $3,000 to $4,000 each.
The vehicles, which are all 2010 Dodge Chargers, have recently been experiencing problems related to the fuel system, according to Police Chief Fred Kelley. At one point this summer, the police department had no marked cars to drive for about three weeks, forcing officers to use unmarked vehicles for patrols.
Although the squad cars have been repaired and are back on the road, mechanics have not been able to figure out what caused the problems, Kelley noted.
"Tomorrow, they could just cough, and we'd be back again (asking for replacements)," said Kelley, who went before the committee Tuesday asking to replace the vehicles several months earlier than anticipated.
Delivery time takes about three months, he said. Normally, the police department waits until November, after the annual budgeting process is completed, to start vehicle replacement requests and take delivery in March.
Kelley said the police department has been trying to extend the replacement of marked vehicles from a two-year schedule to a three-year schedule. The Monroe Police Department has its fleet of marked and unmarked vehicles on replacement schedules to stagger the purchases.
"We used to think it wasn't prudent to keep them more than two years, because of the mileage," Kelley said. "We tried to keep them three years, but ended up having major repairs."
Kelley said he doesn't know what the cost of repairs might be - he hasn't received a bill yet - but he's hoping the company will make some considerations. If the problem is part of the drive train, he said, the vehicles' 100,000-mile warranties are still valid.
Marked vehicles are driven about 45,000 miles per year, according to Kelley.
But they now have "about 9,000 hours of operation on the engines," he said, "and that equates to about 250,000 miles." The high number of hours comes from slow driving on patrols and frequent idling, he added.
"They have different alternators and suspension, but otherwise, they are mostly the same as 'off the lot,'" he added.
The committee approved the purchase of four 2013 Dodge Chargers through a state bid process, at $21,700 each. Kelley said he'd prefer the Charger, about $1,600 cheaper than the Ford Intrepid being offered through same bidding process, because the Intrepid is "in a brand new year" without the "bugs worked out."
"We've never had problems with Chargers until now," he added.
Additional police gear, such as radios and cages, will be transferred from the old vehicles to the new ones.
The committee approved fronting the police department with the purchase cost through the undesignated fund balance, with the police department making its normal vehicle payments to the city to replace the money rather than using a "lease-to-own" program. Committee members determined lease-to-own programs charge about five percent interest, while the city is earning about a quarter of a percent interest on its money in bank accounts, and the interest savings would help pay off the vehicles faster.
The vehicles, which are all 2010 Dodge Chargers, have recently been experiencing problems related to the fuel system, according to Police Chief Fred Kelley. At one point this summer, the police department had no marked cars to drive for about three weeks, forcing officers to use unmarked vehicles for patrols.
Although the squad cars have been repaired and are back on the road, mechanics have not been able to figure out what caused the problems, Kelley noted.
"Tomorrow, they could just cough, and we'd be back again (asking for replacements)," said Kelley, who went before the committee Tuesday asking to replace the vehicles several months earlier than anticipated.
Delivery time takes about three months, he said. Normally, the police department waits until November, after the annual budgeting process is completed, to start vehicle replacement requests and take delivery in March.
Kelley said the police department has been trying to extend the replacement of marked vehicles from a two-year schedule to a three-year schedule. The Monroe Police Department has its fleet of marked and unmarked vehicles on replacement schedules to stagger the purchases.
"We used to think it wasn't prudent to keep them more than two years, because of the mileage," Kelley said. "We tried to keep them three years, but ended up having major repairs."
Kelley said he doesn't know what the cost of repairs might be - he hasn't received a bill yet - but he's hoping the company will make some considerations. If the problem is part of the drive train, he said, the vehicles' 100,000-mile warranties are still valid.
Marked vehicles are driven about 45,000 miles per year, according to Kelley.
But they now have "about 9,000 hours of operation on the engines," he said, "and that equates to about 250,000 miles." The high number of hours comes from slow driving on patrols and frequent idling, he added.
"They have different alternators and suspension, but otherwise, they are mostly the same as 'off the lot,'" he added.
The committee approved the purchase of four 2013 Dodge Chargers through a state bid process, at $21,700 each. Kelley said he'd prefer the Charger, about $1,600 cheaper than the Ford Intrepid being offered through same bidding process, because the Intrepid is "in a brand new year" without the "bugs worked out."
"We've never had problems with Chargers until now," he added.
Additional police gear, such as radios and cages, will be transferred from the old vehicles to the new ones.
The committee approved fronting the police department with the purchase cost through the undesignated fund balance, with the police department making its normal vehicle payments to the city to replace the money rather than using a "lease-to-own" program. Committee members determined lease-to-own programs charge about five percent interest, while the city is earning about a quarter of a percent interest on its money in bank accounts, and the interest savings would help pay off the vehicles faster.