The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office has purchased 57 new vehicles  including 47 new patrol cars to replace many of the department’s current vehicles have up to 150,000 miles. The sheriff’s office purchased the vehicles through the half-cent local option sales tax that was approved by county voters in August 2016 and went into effect on January 1st. The tax will be in effect for five years and is expected to generate about 35 million dollars for funding of improvement projects.