Sheriff’s office willing to pay more to purchase 16 new patrol cars locally

The Dickson County Sheriff’s Office likely will spend just a little bit more to purchase its 16 new patrol cars locally. Mayor Bob Rial said Monday the sheriff is currently reviewing bids for the 16 new patrol cars planned to be purchased in this budget year. The county originally budgeted $200,000 to purchase eight new cars, but doubled that number and added another $200,000 after the previous budget ended with a larger than expected surplus. Rial said while the bid review was ongoing, it appears the lowest bid is for $23,900 per car from Golden Circle Ford in Jackson, Tenn., for a total of $382,400. But Rial said for less than 1 percent more money, the county can purchase the cars from Beaman Ford in Dickson, which submitted a bid of $24,100 per car, $200 more per car than Golden Circle. Rial said he believes it is worth spending the additional $3,200, a difference of .8 of a percent, to support a local business, which he said pays thousands of dollars in taxes and other money into the local economy. While Rial didn’t ask for a formal vote during the commission work session, none of the commissioners objected to his proposal to buy local.