Toccoa approves nearly $177,000 purchase of police SUVs and pickup

Toccoa City Commissioners unanimously approved a nearly $177,000 purchase of three 2026 Dodge Durangos and a four-wheel-drive pickup on April 13, authorizing the vehicles from Jacky Jones for the Police Department. The commission approved a $48,000 pickup and three Durangos priced at $42,992 each, for a listed total of $176,976.

The decision directs SPLOST VII sales-tax proceeds toward city vehicle equipment and adds three patrol-oriented SUVs plus a four-wheel-drive truck to the planned acquisition. For residents, the immediate public question has shifted from whether the commission would approve the spending to whether the purchase will translate into vehicles on the street and in city use.

The request reached commissioners during their April 13 meeting after the city manager said the Police Department sought four vehicles. The discussion described three as assigned to the department and one to Code. Commissioners then considered the specified pickup and Durangos from Jacky Jones and approved the purchase motion the same day, according to the meeting minutes.

The city manager presented the request as one originating with the Police Department, while the meeting record identifies Code as the intended assignment for one of the four vehicles. Commissioners backed the purchase unanimously. The minutes name Jacky Jones as the vendor and SPLOST VII as the funding source, but they do not record debate, competing bids, individual commissioner comments or a public objection to the acquisition.

The authorization is complete: the official meeting minutes say the motion carried unanimously, though they do not give a numerical vote tally. The approved terms specify the models, vendor and prices, but approval is not proof that a purchase order has been issued or that money has changed hands. The record also does not establish that any of the four vehicles has been delivered or entered police or Code service.

The next concrete public step would be a city purchasing, payment or fleet record showing an order to Jacky Jones and an expected arrival date. Until then, residents cannot tell from the minutes when the Durangos and pickup will arrive, when the Police Department will deploy its vehicles, or how the planned Code assignment will be carried out after the April 13 approval.