A Palm Bay resident told the council during public comment that existing city policy allows lieutenants and higher command staff to use assigned police vehicles for personal travel and family transport, and urged the city to end that practice to reduce liability and free funds for other needs.

“Palm Bay citizens should not be responsible for filling up command staff vehicles to go on vacation and athletic practices,” Lance Fisher told the council during the July budget workshop public‑comment period. Fisher said command staff routinely used city vehicles across county lines and that family members were permitted in assigned vehicles. He estimated that personal use mileage could cost taxpayers roughly $45,000 a year on a conservative basis and argued the city could save “over $170,000” annually by changing several budget practices and reallocating savings to body cameras for command staff and online reporting software for officers.

Fisher cited conversations with the city attorney and described historical practices he said allowed widespread personal use by command staff. He also raised the cost of on‑call or special‑event overtime for SWAT and other teams that he said increased salary costs when members traveled to training events in Orlando.

Bill Batten, a resident, also spoke and welcomed the city’s new public works director. Batten urged the city to consider hiring an in‑house city engineer so the municipality would not rely on outside engineers to review city plans, saying the approach could reduce consultant costs.

Council did not take formal action on the comments during the workshop. City staff and councilors acknowledged the public comments; members asked staff and legal counsel to consider policy implications. No votes or policy changes were made on the record at the workshop.

Ending: The commenter’s requests — limits on personal use of city vehicles and reallocation of savings toward accountability equipment and software — were entered into the record; staff did not present responses or recommended policy changes at the workshop and any follow‑up would require staff review and council direction.