Police cars and fire trucks were a big part of the discussion at yesterday’s meeting of Clinton City Council.
As Mayor Bob McLean and Council got their first look at the budget for the next fiscal year beginning July 1st, City Manager Frank Stovall explained that several years of tight budgets meant that the city had not replaced some emergency vehicles that were at or beyond their expected service life.
Fire trucks cost an average of $400,000 and patrol cars about $35,000 each so it’s an expensive proposition when replacing multiple units. Stovall told council that this is not ideal but he believes it to be unavoidable. The citizens of Clinton expect the Department of Public Safety to be able to respond quickly to an emergency. He said that having this ability will at some point be in jeopardy due to vehicles that are beyond their service life.
The current budget year includes the purchase of two patrol cars. Those cars have been ordered. Mr. Stovall proposed that three additional patrol cars be purchased in the upcoming budget year by ‘borrowing’ funds from the city’s depreciation account and repaying those funds over time.
Yes, the words ‘tax increase’ were used last night. Details on that Wednesday morning on WLBG and at WLBG.com .