COLUMBIANA COUNTY Fee increase will help police pay for new cars

Each of the new cruisers will cost about $18,000.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- A change in state regulations that allowed a boost in fees charged by sheriff's departments is benefiting the Columbiana County Sheriff's office.
Commissioners may take action as early as Wednesday to approve a lease-purchase deal for five new cruisers for the department, Commissioner Jim Hoppel said Monday.
Money to pay for the 2004 Chevrolet Impalas, which cost about $18,000 each, will come from the nearly $6,000 monthly the department's bringing in through a fee-increase measure approved last year by the state Legislature.
Ohio lawmakers permitted county sheriff's offices, beginning in late September, to double fees charged for serving various papers and for transporting prisoners.
First in 20 years
The fee increase was the first allowed in about 20 years, sheriff officials said.
Sheriff Dave Smith said he worked out a deal with county commissioners that allows his department to split the fee revenue with the county general fund.
Previously, all the fee money went into the general fund, from which a variety of county operations and expenses are funded.
The fee-splitting arrangement is one of the few in the state, Smith said.
About $12,000 is produced each month by sheriff's fees. The department is using its $6,000 share to keep equipment -- including cruisers -- repaired and current.
The five new vehicles will replace marked sheriff cars with more than 150,000 miles tallied on their odometers, Smith said. The department has 19 cruisers.
Included in the three-year lease-purchase deal is a 100,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty that costs $4,699 for each car.
The county will be getting the cruisers through a state purchasing plan that helps ensure the best price. The county will be able to buy each cruiser for $1 at the end of the lease period, Smith said.