La Plata County is trying to sell a $170,000 prisoner transport vehicle as part of a broader effort to offload underused assets and cut costs amid a budget shortfall.
County Fleet Manager Brian Meador said the goal of this year’s reduction is to trim waste by removing underutilized vehicles.
“The fleet reduction came about with just trying to reduce some of the waste – or, better put, the underutilized assets of La Plata County – and this vehicle is one of them,” Meador said. “If you don’t drive a vehicle 4,000 miles or more per year, we don’t think it’s best that you have it.”
As part of that reduction initiative, the Sheriff’s Office is trying to sell a 2020 Chevrolet 5500 4WD Custom Transport Unit purchased during the COVID-19 pandemic to transport up to 19 prisoners to and from the county jail.
The need for such a large prisoner transport vehicle has declined sharply since the pandemic as online court appearances have become more common, said Sheriff Sean Smith.
Additionally, the vehicle is the only one in the Sheriff’s Office that requires a commercial drivers license. Smith said removing it from the fleet eliminates the office’s need for a specialized transport team.
“It allows us to roll that transport team back into the jail’s main functionality so that we can utilize them for other things,” Smith said. “Our transport demand is not heavy on any given day, and it just allowed us to have a better staffing model by getting rid of the car that required a CDL.”
The vehicle was listed for sale on GovDeals.com in early September, but the first auction failed to attract the county’s minimum acceptable bid of $100,000. In the second auction round, the highest bid as of Monday was $40,000. The auction closes Nov. 4, and it appeared unlikely the county would meet its goal.
Smith said the Sheriff’s Office may consider selling 12 additional vehicles depending on the outcome of Tuesday’s election.
“If the voters don’t choose to fund us, we’ve got to come up with deeper cuts,” he said.
His office has been tasked with cutting about $3.5 million in the 2026 budget – and Smith said that after years of attrition, there is not much left to trim.
“Really, all I have left is people and cars,” Smith said.
If the 1A ballot measure – which asks voters to approve a 1% sales tax increase for the county government – does not pass, Smith said even more vehicles, and operational expenses, could be cut.
jbowman@durangoherald.com
