MARYSVILLE – Construction costs have risen for a new police building intended to house the fancy cars and other goods seized from the county’s top drug dealers.
The planned Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force storage facility west of Marysville will now cost an estimated $275,000, an increase of $75,000 because of design changes and the increased cost of steel and concrete.
Even with the increased cost, officials say it will be cheaper than renting space.
“Leasing this much space over five years would cost around the same amount of money as building this building,” drug task force commander Pat Slack said.
The planned building will hold up to 60 vehicles, he said, as well as other seized items such as riding lawn mowers, furniture and appliances.
The Snohomish County Council on Wednesday approved the use of money seized from drug dealers for all of the construction cost. The building will be on land seized by the task force, and later paid off with $100,000 in seized drug funds.
As recently as 2000, vehicles seized by the drug task force were stored in a rural Snohomish County property, but were targeted by thieves and vandals, who smashed windows and stole stereos, Slack said.
The task force moved the stored vehicles to a Boeing Co. parking lot, but they were still out in the weather, Slack said.
Now, vehicles are on the Marysville property, where a caretaker inflates tires and charges dead batteries – things detectives once had to do, Slack said.
Storing the vehicles in a building will make them worth more at auction or protect them until they are returned to banks or car dealers, Slack said.
Construction should be complete by mid-August, Slack said.
Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.
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