Police Chief Matthew Boger is requesting $125,000 for a new patrol vehicle and vehicle for a K-9 unit as part of the town's 2025-26 fiscal year budget. But alderman came to a consensus at a budget retreat last week to possibly purchase the two police vehicles along with a new vehicle for the administration, with a price range between $33,000 and $38,000, in the coming weeks. It would be an effort to save money, they said.
If the board makes those purchases in this fiscal year, which ends June 30, the town would take the money from its fund balance, or savings account, to purchase the vehicles. The fund balance would then be reimbursed for that amount from funds included in the next fiscal year that starts July 1.
Alderman Tim Wise made the suggestion to buy the vehicles now after alderman were told that a new truck for the sewer department cost $8,700 more than the $60,000 the town budgeted last spring.
"Can we just buy it now?" Wise asked. "If we are going to do it anyway, and I don't want this to be a recurring habit, the money is sitting there. It's worth looking at if we are going to save several thousand dollars by getting it now."
Mayor Mike Eveland voiced support for the idea and asked that the issue be discussed at the board's next regular meeting.
"These new cars are not going down, they are going to go up," Eveland said.
Boger told aldermen that he could get a "more firm" quote now for the two police vehicles instead of waiting for the budget year to start July 1.
The new patrol vehicle is needed for a cadet at the police academy who is expected to join the force this summer, Boger said. The department also needs a new K-9 vehicle for one of the department's two police dog units. The replaced unit will be used as a backup.
The cost of the two Durango police vehicles includes fitting them with all the needed accessories.
"We have a cadet in training and he graduates in June," Boger said. "When he comes out on day one, I can swear him in and put him to work. Having a spare (vehicle) with 13 officers is not a bad thing."
Boger is also asking for money to purchase two license plate reader cameras. The cameras and the initial setup would be $7,300 for the first year with a yearly $6,000 annual subscription beginning in year two.
The $7,300 would come from seizure money from drug cases worked by the department. That account currently has almost $42,000 in it. The annual software subscription would then be borne by the town.
The devices would be placed on a pole and would record plate numbers of all passing vehicles. The cameras would give Maggie Valley access to a state and nationwide network of cameras, including license plate readers being used by the Haywood Sheriff's Office. The department can't currently access that data because it is not part of the system.
Boger said the cameras will help the department in the investigation of crimes and searching for missing persons. He told aldermen, for example, that if a person in a red truck was suspected of committing a crime, that information could be loaded into the system, which could then show all red trucks that passed by the license plate readers.
"I could type in red truck for that time period, and it would show me the license plates of every red truck," Boger said. "It would narrow down our suspect trail."
©2025 The Mountaineer, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
