An Irritation For Clarendon Hills Official

CLARENDON HILLS, IL – A Clarendon Hills trustee this week questioned the village's practice of assuming the useful life of its vehicles.

"It just kind of irritates me that we take what is considered the standard useful life for this equipment and throw it in the budget and just assume we're going to need a new one," Trustee Carol Jorissen said at a Village Board meeting.

Clarendon Hills covers two square miles, so the lifespan for a squad car in the village may be longer than one in Naperville or Chicago, she said.

When a vehicle's useful life is built into the budget, Jorissen said, then the village's first presumption is to buy a new one, perhaps even if the existing car is in relatively good shape.

At the same time, she said, "I feel like all the department heads try to save us money whenever they can... I don't think we're incredibly guilty of being frivolous with the money when it comes to big, expensive equipment."

Village Manager Kevin Barr said Jorissen was right that a certain expectation for buying vehicles is set up. By the same token, Barr said, village department heads analyze whether they actually need vehicles when the time comes.

Police Chief Paul Dalen said the police have pushed back purchases of squad cars when existing ones seem to be doing fine.