Proposition 11 still failing, leaving Anchorage Police Dept. with fears of aging vehicle fleet

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Anchorage Police Department’s recent ballot proposition that would have used a tax levy to fund new department vehicles is currently not passing in Anchorage’s municipal election.

Prop. 11 would have been funded by a tax levy. If passed, the levy would have increased property taxes by $7.55 per $100,000 of assessed property value up to a fund of $3 million.

According to the bond’s language, the levy was meant to “eliminate the need to bond for police vehicles for the foreseeable future.”

Josh Nolder, a Captain at APD, has overseen a portion of vehicle decisions for over 12 years. According to him, the fleet is “too old, too many miles, and quite frankly, you know, not as safe as it needs to be.“

Nolder said APD’s vehicle fleet falls below the “industry standard” for police vehicles. He said APD is working toward a fleet that is entirely replenished every 10 years, but that benchmark is still outside the norm.

“That’s actually at the bottom end of of sort of where the industry standard, whereas many of our peers are much sooner in the four, five, six year mark,” Nolder said. “Again, we would be aiming for the 10 years/100,000 miles. We have no such limit at this point.”

Among their fleet — made of approximately 500 vehicles — Nolder said many cars still in rotation have over 150,000 to 200,000 miles on their odometer.

As municipal vehicles continue to age, Nolder believes the effects branch out into major impacts, including the quality of public services and maintaining a safe city.

“It’s a safety piece for both the public and for the police officers. Again, this is their work office, this is their work environment,” Nolder said, describing a police officer’s dependence on their car.

According to Nolder, some officers have even ended up car-less in the middle of their shift.

“An officer may start their shift or go through a portion of their shift and their vehicle goes down ... it’s happened where they’ve been en route to emergency situations and their vehicle won’t make it. They have to pull off the side of the road, and we have to call a tow,” he said.

In addition to the potential effects on the current police force, Nolder cites vehicular concerns as a deterrent for new hires.

“It’s also a recruitment piece, you know; nobody wants to come to a department and be told that they’re going to drive an unsafe, unreliable vehicle that’s falling apart around them,” he said.

Despite Nolder’s argument in favor of the funding increase they would have seen if Prop. 11 passes, he said he’s not aware of any other plans to increase vehicle turnover time or garner funds in the future.

Alaska’s News Source reached out to the municipality to ask the same question, and have not yet heard back.

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