Staff writer
A nearly $1,000 bill for washing Marion Police Department vehicles at J & K Car Wash was a lump expense for almost 18 months.
The $941.44 bill occurred because the billing system was still being updated.
It came as a surprise, police chief Clinton Jeffrey said.
“We had never gotten a bill from them, and it never crossed my mind,” he said.
While the total is significant, it’s an average of $52.30 per month, or one car wash for each of the department’s five police vehicles.
To cut down on expenses the department might end up using pressure washers at Marion’s city shop to clean their vehicles, Jeffrey said.
Reducing how many use the car wash will cut spending, but cleaning vehicles in the city shop isn’t feasible for employees who start early each morning, city administrator Roger Holter said.
“It doesn’t make any sense to do it at the city shop because nobody’s there,” Roger Holter.
The city could use the least expensive car wash in Marion, Holter said.
“We have two good car washes in town, so they’ll look into which will give us the better price,” he said.