Clark County sheriff, auditor present plan for new fleet

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August 14, 2012

Clark County sheriff, auditor present plan for new fleet

Department would get 20 new Chargers, taxpayers would pay nothing

By MATT KOESTERS matt.koesters@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Tue Aug 14, 2012, 07:05 AM EDT

JEFFERSONVILLE — The Clark County Council gave a vote of confidence to a plan presented by the sheriff and county auditor that would replace the sheriff’s aging fleet of vehicles at a Monday meeting.

“I think I’ve solved your problem,” County Auditor R. Monty Snelling said. “This will make everybody happy, especially the taxpayers.”

Under the plan presented by Snelling and Sheriff Danny Rodden, 20 new Dodge Chargers would be purchased at the cost of about $490,000. Rounded to $500,000, the interest on a 60-month loan would be about $27,000.

To pay for the vehicles, the sheriff’s office will pay about $8,000 out of its commissary fund each month during the final 28 months of Rodden’s term in office. The balance — about $300,000 over the life of the loan — would be paid out of funds recovered by Maximus Cost Allocation, which helps the county recover child support fees. The county receives about $60,000 annually from Maximus.

“The taxpayers aren’t paying anything out of pocket,” Snelling said.

Rodden said the cars would largely be outfitted with radios and lightbars using the equipment from the pursuit vehicles they would replace. The City of Jeffersonville would help outfit the vehicles. The vehicles would be painted white, instead of the traditional brown and tan that today’s sheriff’s vehicles sport. It costs upwards of $2,000 to paint a car in the brown-and-tan motif, Rodden said.

Rodden said he planned to sell the majority of the vehicles being replaced, with some of them being retained as transport vehicles for prisoners.

“I still need transport cars for the jail,” Rodden said. “I’ve got about five of those right now.”

Snelling added that the sheriff’s office currently spends about $100,000 per year on fleet maintenance, a cost that would be drastically lowered by having new vehicles on warranty in place of the aging cars. Fuel usage would also decrease, as the Chargers are more fuel-efficient than the cars currently in use, he added.

The county council voted unanimously to give the plan concocted by Snelling and Rodden its vote of confidence.

Additionally, Snelling said there’s the possibility that more money could be found to help the sheriff’s office.

“There’s a fund that has not been maintained properly, and I really can’t say it in public yet. I’ve been working with the State Board of Accounts, and I’ve got a feeling we’re going to come up with more money for the sheriff’s department in that fund,” Snelling said. “I’d rather you didn’t question me — just take my word for it. I’ve found you money before. I’ve got my nose to the ground again.”