A combination of drug funds and tax dollars will pay for the 10 new cruisers - routine budget items ordered to keep the fleet running -approved Tuesday for the sheriff’s office.

“The county has a systematic approach to having good rolling stock going,” county commission Chairman Bill Chappell said. “They’ve been buying some vehicles every year rather than having them all run down. Scheduled part of replacement.”

The bid for cruisers approved by the Board of Commissioners was $1,207 higher than the lowest bid by Peach State Ford, but it was from a local company, Don Rich Ford.

Chappell, who vowed to cut wasteful spending during his recent campaign, said he will continue to support the policy of taking local bids if they are not much higher than the lowest bid.

“I’m always in favor of the lowest bidder on equal products. I do believe that local bidders should receive some consideration because they are major taxpayers in the county,” he said, adding that it is often local businesses that support schools, sports teams and clubs in the county.

Chief Deputy Brad Robinson said the 10 cruisers have been an ongoing part of the sheriff’s office budget.

“Generally, in the past, we’ve gotten about 10 patrol cars in our budget each year,” he said. “We try to keep the fleet as current as we can.”

Robinson said the sheriff’s office has around 15 cruisers with more than 100,000 miles on them.

“Once a vehicle gets a lot of miles in public safety, it starts becoming very costly to maintain. We’re not talking about just an oil change,” he said. “The main thing is just trying to keep our fleet in good working order for the safety of everyone out there.”

At Tuesday’s meeting, Robinson said Sheriff Terry Langley had agreed to use seized drug funds to pay the first of three annual lease payments on the cars.

“Since Sheriff Langley is using his drug funds, it made no sense to cripple them,” Chappell said.

Once the seizure of drug money has been approved in court, it is returned to law enforcement to be used in a variety of ways. Salaries and benefits cannot be paid for with drug money, but departments can use the money for equipment, training and community programs.

Because of the rising price of fuel, Carroll County Sheriff’s Office has also already been supplementing its fuel budget with seized drug funds.