Whether it’s a personal checkbook or a company ledger sheet, managing expenses is a constant battle.

It’s no different for county offices, in general, and the Sequoyah County Sheriff ’s Office, in particular.

But these days, the sheriff ’s office is realizing an annual savings for the county believed to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

How is this possible? Do it yourself.

More precisely, have the sheriff ’s maintenance crew of Tom Rogers, Calvin Teehee and Bruce Ainesworth do it themselves.

Sequoyah County Undersheriff Charles House recalls when Sheriff Larry Lane took office, the sheriff ’s office was faced with budget overruns and tasked with getting a handle on spending.

“We spent $80 or $100 an oil change at a local business here in town,” House recalled last Monday at the weekly meeting of the Sequoyah County Commissioners. “So in 2018, our guys started logging a whole book of their work — every oil change, every tire change, every flat change, every unit they’ve touched.”

Since then, relying on Rogers, Teehee and Ainesworth, the county saves a few thousand dollars here and a few hundred thousand dollars there. A hundred thousand dollars here, a hundred thousand dollars there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.

In addition to the savings, a benefit House pointed out is that vehicles needing the maintenance crew’s attention don’t have to set appointments, they don’t have to wait in line while somebody else is getting their vehicle serviced.

“They know breakdowns and oil changes come first to get the deputies back on the street,” House says of the crew.

But it’s not just deputies who benefit.

“One thing we’ve done is we’ve broadened it — we help the assessor’s office, the 911 trucks — they’re county vehicles, and it’s just the right thing to do. Why make them go pay $100 when we can do it for $10, $12, that kind of thing?” House said.

“Last year, they did 176 oil changes. That’s about a $40 per vehicle savings by the time you put the salaries in there and you take the equipment — we buy oil by the drum — so it’s about a $7,000 savings throughout the year.

“And as of last week, we was about $160,000 just in labor savings. I didn’t go into the savings that I save on the equipment, because I buy straight from the manufacturer. Then you throw this on there and you throw your brakes and your tires, we’re well over $200,000 savings a year.”

And, according to House, the savings record also comes without any injuries.

“They’ve not had any accidents of anybody getting hurt in that shop,” the undersheriff pointed out. “Anybody that’s worked around mechanics doing something, you’d see somebody get hurt. They’ve not cost the county any money. So we appreciate you guys.

“There’s a lot of challenges that goes on over in that little shop over there that people don’t see. So I wanted these guys to come over just before we go into the new year, bring some positive to the sheriff ’s department to say, ‘Look, these guys behind the scenes, you don’t see them on the front page of the paper, you don’t see them making big drug busts, big money busts, big arrests for murders, nothing like that,” House said in publicly recognizing the crew.

But it takes a wellorchestrated team to keep the sheriff ’s fleet of vehicles, as well as other county vehicles, running smoothly.

“They know their jobs. You pull in there, they’re gonna start doing what they do,” House explained.

And although they’re not a pit crew at Daytona International Speedway, they’re able to get the vehicles in and out quickly. Time was when rebuilding or replacing a transmission at a commercial mechanic’s shop could take months. Rebuilding an engine, about the same. And the cost adds up quickly.

Nowadays, Lane says, a transmission repair takes two days.

Contributing to the crew’s efficiency is that everyone knows their job.

“Calvin is our guy that gets dirty. He’s the one that’s doing all the brakes, transmissions — we done seven transmissions last year, total replacements,” House explained.

“Tom is my organized guy. He’s the guy that orders everything that that shop needs. He deals with vendors.

“And then Bruce, he’s our electronics guy, he’s the guy on computer programming. If you’ve never worked on a new vehicle lately, to do a brake change, you have to have a computer to put it in service mode. If you don’t, you’re gonna ruin that truck. $1,600 later, you will ruin it, I promise you,” House said in praise.

“But on top of that, that’s not counting they’re coming in on Tuesday mornings at 6 o’clock to mow the yard when nobody’s here so we don’t get any insurance claims from throwing a rock through a vehicle or doing something silly with a lawn mower. So they come in early. It doesn’t count the time when they run over here to deal with a gas leak or electrical problem, or when an air conditioner’s out, plumbing, whatever the case may be. That’s just a small part that they don’t even get seen on. Electricity’s out, they gotta be here, gotta keep the generator going to keep our jail running. Jail standards say here’s what you must keep that jail at, and we gotta do everything we can do to keep them inmates comfortable, fed and hot water.”

But servicing highperformance deputies vehicles is different than servicing the family station wagon.

“When these guys first started working on these emergency vehicles,” House told the commissioners, “I’d say, ‘Did you check that one?’

“They’d say, ‘Yeah, it’s good, I checked it.’

“I said, ‘Come on, let’s go for a drive.’ You take them for a good drive, then they start realizing the importance to making sure all them lug nuts are spec, the torques, the brakes are spec, the torques, to make sure everything’s good, because at a hundred miles an hour, it makes a big difference.”

In addition, it’s not uncommon dealing with a high-mileage vehicle.

“Right now, I’ve got two trucks that are 2021 models that are over 100,000 miles now,” House said. “So it just kinda gives you an idea of how many miles this county puts on its vehicles.”

In addition to the public recognition, House offered his appreciation to Rogers, Teehee and Ainesworth.

“We do appreciate you guys. Sheriff Lane appreciates you.”