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Motorcycle Unit Given Green Light

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By JULIA FERRANTE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 23, 2008

Updated: 01/22/2008 10:55 pm

NEW PORT RICHEY - Sheriff Bob White will be able to put his motorcycle unit back on the streets.

The county commission on Tuesday unanimously agreed to appropriate Penny for Pasco sales tax proceeds to purchase seven motorcycles for traffic patrols. In exchange, the commission reduced the number of patrol cars White can buy in the current fiscal year from 100 to 95.

With the county's lease for the bikes set to expire Jan. 31, White had begun pulling the seven Harley-Davidsons out of service and stripping them of their agency markings.

The sheriff brought the situation to the commission's attention in a June 1 memo, and sheriff's officials have been exchanging e-mail with county budget officials since at least October. But the issue was not formally considered before Tuesday.

Michael Nurrenbrock, the director of management and budget, told commissioners he considered it a change in policy to spend Penny for Pasco money on motorcycles, especially considering the deputies who ride them also are issued patrol vehicles.

Pasco officials promised voters in 2004 that part of the tax proceeds would be spent on "marked patrol vehicles." This year's allocation is about $2.1 million.

Sheriff's Maj. Maurice Radford said the cruisers issued to motorcycle deputies are older and have higher mileage than most of the cars assigned to other traffic deputies. The bikes, Radford said, also require less fuel than patrol cars and make it easier for deputies to maneuver through traffic.

When the sheriff's office initially negotiated a lease, the cost was about $150 a bike per month, but now it is more than $400.

Tuesday's action allows the sheriff to buy new motorcycles for an estimated $14,250 each - on the condition they not be traded in for three years, or until the purchase price is the same as a yearlong lease.

Commissioner Michael Cox said he supported using Penny for Pasco money for motorcycles but would not agree to spend tax proceeds on other sheriff's vehicles, such as a trailer that happened to have a Penny for Pasco logo.

"It does make sense to me that motorcycles are a traffic enforcement vehicle," Cox said.

Commissioner Ann Hildebrand was reluctant to make such a policy change but voted with her colleagues.

"I have a hard time accepting the fact that in 2004, when the Penny for Pasco was proposed, we told the voters specifically how we were going to spend their money," she said. "I can still see the pictures of vehicles in the campaign of what we would provide to deputies. Are we reneging? A bike and a car are two different vehicles."

Commissioner Pat Mulieri asked whether the sheriff needed more money for motorcycles or was willing to reduce the number of patrol cars he buys. The sheriff had proposed such a tradeoff.

"That's something we'd have to live with," Radford said, adding that sheriff's officials are comparing prices to find out whether it makes more sense to buy Hondas or another less-expensive brand than Harleys.

The sheriff's motorcycle unit issued about 5,800 citations and nearly 3,500 warnings in 2006, according to the agency. The cost of fueling the bikes is about one-third of what it costs to fill up a patrol car, although replacing equipment on the Harleys offset some of the expenses.

Reporter Julia Ferrante can be reached at (813) 948-4220 or jferrante@tampatrib.com.

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