The town of Beaufort’s Police Department may be applying for a grant to purchase a boat and hire a part-time officer. The $130,000 grant would require the town to match it with $32,495. After one year, the town would be required to shoulder the annual salary and boat maintenance costs in full and on it’s own.
The annual upkeep on the boat is estimated at around $20,000. But you know what BOAT stands for right? “Bring on another thousand” is what I always hear from my friends that are boat owners. So once the grant is up, town commissioners will likely be asking to raise taxes to pay for the boat and officer, both of which are only used half of the year.
Wasn’t it the Town of Beaufort that was having such a hard time paying for badly needed sewer upgrades not that long ago? Now they’re going to spend more money on an item that is going to cost money, and sits unused half the year. Hmm, makes good fiscal sense, doesn’t it?
Aren’t there Marine Fisheries officers that patrol the waters in and around the town? I think I remember them stopping me while fishing in Beaufort, so I know they’re actively patrolling the area. If the board of commissioners and Police Department feel they’re not doing enough, perhaps they should ask Gov. Perdue why they aren’t. It appears to me that the majority of the funds raised from saltwater fishing licenses has went to buying boats and hiring Marine Fisheries officers, so there should be plenty of them around to keep Beaufort safe.