County commissioners agreed during a budget work session to allow the sheriff's office to order six vehicles now and record the expense against next year's budget, to capture a projected 5% discount.
The discussion centered on vehicle purchase and outfitting costs for law enforcement. A staff member said, "It costs about $60,000 to outfit it," referring to the per-vehicle total including equipment. Commissioner-style participants noted the base vehicle price discussed earlier was "about 57,000 a piece." One commissioner said ordering now would "save about 5%."
Why it matters: ordering now and classifying the payment as a prepayment or a promissory entry affects this fiscal year's fund balance and next year's budget; it also locks in price assumptions for a major public-safety purchase.
Discussion and direction: Commissioners and staff debated whether all six vehicles need full outfitting and whether the purchase should be processed as a prepay expense from fund balance or approved at the next meeting. One participant recommended issuing a promissory note and booking the amount into next year's budget so the sheriff's office could place the order immediately. The group verbally agreed that staff should proceed with ordering and prepare the promissory note or prepay paperwork for formal inclusion in the next meeting's agenda.
No formal roll-call vote was recorded on the record during the session; the agreement was captured as staff direction. The transcript states the vehicles will be ordered now and the county will "go ahead and give him promissory note, put it in next year's budget and do it that way." Implementation notes: staff said the county has used prepayment accounting in the past for similar capital buys and that the county would not write the physical check until the next fiscal year while still capturing the discount.
Remaining uncertainties: The precise final outfitting scope by vehicle and whether each of the six will receive full outfitting were discussed but not finalized on the record. The financing approach (prepay expense vs. formal appropriation amendment) will be included in the next formal meeting packet for approval.
Taper: Staff will prepare the promissory letter or prepayment entry and include the item on the next meeting agenda so commissioners can formalize the direction.