Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office cruisers are racking up the miles, and this year’s budget won’t pay for replacements. So authorities are looking at whether they can lease vehicles for the patrol.
Maj. Gary Sisk said the office is working with Chattanooga officials and Ford Motors to replace temporarily several of the 74 patrol cars or vehicles that are breaking down or have more than 100,000 miles.
This year, the sheriff’s office doesn’t have money to replace any patrol cars, and its maintenance budget is only $60,000 a year, Sisk said.
Since 2009, the sheriff’s office has replaced department vehicles with special purpose local option sales tax money, which was expected to bring in $1 million for vehicles over a five-year period, authorities said. But tax revenues are dropping, and all funds received to this point have been spent, Catoosa County City Manager Mike Helton said.
“We’re not going to spend more than we make,” Helton said. “That alone holds the sheriff back from getting the cars he needs.”