Over $250,000 invested to purchase new police vehicles

San Luis, Ariz. - More than $250,000 will be invested by the city council to purchase patrol units for the police department.

During a special session on Tuesday, council members approved spending $260,000 that was generated through the collection of impact fees.

Acting Manager Jeff Philpot presented the proposal to council members and explained that many police vehicles have high mileage and currently there are no vehicles that can be driven through difficult terrain, and the current cars have more than 140,000 miles on them.

Facing budget limitations, the only option is to take money from impact fees, a line item that has $2.9 million.

The money will be used to purchase a 2009 Tahoe and three four-wheel drive Sierra 1500 trucks.

Council member Marco Antonio Reyes Jr. was the only one to oppose the measure and proposed waiting until the budget was finalized and adjustments are made at the state level.

The use of these resources will not impact the general budget, Philpot said.

Police Captain Javier Nuño said the new vehicles will only substitute four of the five units that were removed from circulation and which will be auctioned soon.

The Tahoe will be used for traffic patrol and will not have the logo and official colors and will be used in a similar fashion to the Charger that Somerton has, purchased with state funds.

“The state will refund $40,000 through the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety,” Nuño said.

The police department has 22 vehicles and hopes to have nine new vehicles in the next few months, he said.

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A headline on Page A5 of Monday's edition incorrectly stated which city is spending $260,000 on new police cars. The city of San Luis, Ariz., is purchasing the vehicles.

The Sun regrets the error.