Last year, a new Boise police car cost $60K. Now it’s $71K. What City Council just did
Boise police need money sooner than expected to restock their patrol vehicle fleet. They also need more of it.
The Police Department uses Ford Interceptors, an SUV model, as its patrol vehicles. In early September, the Michigan automobile manufacturer announced it would be closing new orders for the 2023 model early, on Sept. 9, according to a city memorandum.
The department had already budgeted for new vehicle purchases in its 2023 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. But the shifted deadline required the city to buy new vehicles sooner, and the department now needs money to pay for them.
The week of Sept. 5, the department ordered 27 Ford Interceptors, for which it wants the Boise City Council to advance $2.5 million, according to the memo.
Of that $2.5 million, $2.2 million would be subtracted from the 2023 budget. The department has also tacked on an extra request for $250,000, since the cost of vehicles has risen 18% over the last year, according to the department.
Before these changes, the department’s 2023 budget for major equipment purchases was $4.5 million, according to the memo. The department expects to spend $14.7 million on major equipment over the next five years.
Last year, Interceptors cost $59,816, according to the memo. While a 3% annual increase in prices is expected each year, this year the SUVs cost $70,819.
New vehicle prices have hit record highs this summer, with limited inventories, supply issues and high customer demand contributing to the rising costs, according to a report from Cox Automotive, a vehicle business.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which calculates the Consumer Price Index, announced that the cost of new vehicles rose 0.8% in August and 10.1% over the previous 12 months.
The council approved advancing the funds to the police department by a unanimous vote at a Tuesday work session. Council members Luci Willits and Patrick Bageant were not present.
The Police Department has 160 marked vehicles, and 120 of those are patrol vehicles, according to a department spokesperson, Haley Williams. One hundred and forty of those are Ford Interceptors, and 20 are Dodge Chargers, a sedan model.
“As the Chargers age out based on miles or cost to repair, we are replacing them with the Ford Interceptor, which performs better in Boise weather conditions and provides a better set up for gear and storage to ensure we equip officers in the best way possible to meet the needs they have in the field,” Williams said in an email.
Patrol supervisors may have other unmarked patrol vehicles, which could include Ford Edge and Ford Explorer or other “similar SUV style vehicles,” Williams said.
Last month, after Dodge announced its Charger sedan would become all-electric, Idaho State Police announced they would look elsewhere for their patrol vehicle needs.
