That BMW motorcycle that you just picked up at the auction for a steal of a price?

It might just have been used to patrol the streets of Lathrop.

Last month the Lathrop City Council approved the designation of a number of vehicles – including two BMW motorcycles that were used for traffic enforcement – as surplus property and passed a resolution that will allow for the items to be sold at an auction through a contract that the city has with an independent vendor.

Because the collective value of the four items that have been designated as surplus could potentially exceed $5,000 – the two motorcycles, a boom truck and a box trailer – the city has turned them over to Nationwide Fleet Services to auction them off. If the auction is not successful, the vehicles will be destroyed and disposed of in order to make space for the respective departments that initially designated them as surplus.

This is the second time in 2019 that the City of Lathrop has designed a police motorcycle as surplus as the city gears up to bolster its existing traffic enforcement with new deputies that were approved to be hired with funding from Measure C – the one-cent sales tax increase that voters approved for essential city services.

In September of last year, the city designated four Chevrolet Caprice sedans, a Dodge Charger sedan and a BMW motorcycle as surplus to make room for new models purchased to renovate the city’s existing police department motor pool.

The decision to add a number of full-sized SUVs to replace the sedans – which have become harder to come by for typical patrol use – was made by the council in December, and will augment an existing Ford F-150 pickup truck to give patrol deputies more space for the materials they need to conduct their daily duties.

The proceeds from the auction could end up offsetting some of the cost of the purchase of the new vehicles that will replace them, although the decision was made by the council without any expectation of financial return – if not purchased at auction the vehicles will likely be scrapped.

With the financial flexibility that the city has with the proceeds of Measure C – the revenue from which has far outperformed the initial expectations when voters approved it in 2012 – the city has been able to pay for not just new vehicles for city staff and police officers, but hire city staff and police officers as well.

For additional information on the surplus vehicles, or to see a copy of the resolution that was approved by the council that designated the vehicles as such, visit the City of Lathrop’s website at www.ci.lathrop.ca.us.

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.