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News
Coroner to seek funding to buy new van : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisCoroner to seek funding to buy new van
| Toftoy says repairs on 11 year-old vehicle now 'nickel and dime'-ing county
| by Matt Schury
| 2/14/2013
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Kendall County Coroner Ken Toftoy says the vehicle he uses to transport bodies in the county needs to be replaced.
Toftoy is expected to make his case to the County Board's Finance Committee today (Thursday) for a new SUV to replace the 2002 Chevy Suburban he currently uses.
Toftoy said he doesn't think his request is unreasonable given that the SUV has 124,00 miles on it and is beginning to "nickel and dime" the county with repair work.
Toftoy estimates a new Chevy Suburban would cost the county about $40,000. He says he doesn't have all the funds in his budget for the vehicle and that the majority of the cost would probably come out of the county's reserve fund.
The County Board would have to decide how to pay for the vehicle.
Toftoy said that he plans to use funds from the surcharge his office collects for death certificates.
Toftoy estimates there is about $12,000 in that fund. He also reports that he has spoken to local dealerships and found out he could get about $3,000 for trading in the Suburban.
The discussion about a new vehicle started in December, Toftoy said, when he had the Suburban serviced because the front-end was wandering when he would drive it. He found out the ball joints in the vehicle would need to be replaced.
"I couldn't figure out why the front-end was wandering all over like boat in the water," he said. "The ball-joints were shot. That thing is on its last leg. It's rusting, the front-end tire rod and ball joints are bad."
He added that it also needs new tires and the doors are starting to rust.
"Well, the catalytic converter went out, that was $1,200 this summer, the air conditioning went out, that was $8,000 so it's starting to nickel and dime us," he said.
Toftoy figures the county has gotten good use of the vehicle, which he estimates has hauled 300 bodies. He also uses the Suburban to go to meetings and conferences in Springfield.
Toftoy said he would like the new vehicle to have four-wheel drive, which is needed sometimes when he has to take it to the scene of an accident.
"When the car is out in the middle of the field, well, I have to drive out there I can't carry the person five acres away," he said. "I couldn't get a bunch of firemen and carry that person out like a combat situation in the war."
Toftoy notes that the sheriff's squad cars are usually replaced around 100,000 miles and that the Animal Control Facility recently purchased a new van.
He said he checked with the sheriff's office, which uses Ford Explorers.
"They're not long enough, they're not big enough to put the cot in," he said. "There's been quite a few times where I've had to haul two people when you get a fatal accident and it's a double fatal. And you've got to have a decent vehicle to do that."
Toftoy mentioned that he believes the Suburban is a deal for taxpayers.
"I broke that car down to the price per taxpayer and that came to 19 cents (per person)," he said.
When asked about the gas mileage a Suburban gets, Toftoy said he hadn't looked into that.
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