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Public Works seeks budget reallocation for winter overtime and flags rising vehicle-repair costs
Summary
Acting DPW commissioner told council the department needs a budget amendment to cover winter overtime and rising vehicle repair costs tied to diesel emissions systems; staff said some repairs require dealer diagnostics and they are exploring maintenance-contract options.
The Binghamton Department of Public Works asked the City Council on May 5 to amend the 2025 DPW budget to cover overages in winter overtime and rising vehicle-repair costs tied to modern diesel-emissions systems.
Josh Palutti, acting commissioner of public works, said the department is asking to move funds from the sand-and-salt account into overtime to cover extra snow- and ice-removal staffing this winter. Palutti described the request as a reallocation to keep operations covered through the fiscal year and said he prefers having the funds in place "rather than need it and not have it." The transcript did not specify the exact dollar amount moved.
Palutti also described growing repair-and-diagnostics costs for newer municipal vehicles that include diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) systems and proprietary engine-control systems. He said filters and after-treatment components in trucks that do not reach sustained highway speeds can become clogged and require dealership-level 'regen' procedures and specialized diagnostics. "The only problem with that is, especially when you have trucks like garbage trucks or plow trucks that are not ran at high speeds a lot, these filters get jammed up," Palutti said. He added that some vehicle codes and injector repairs need factory-authorized diagnostics (he cited John Deere equipment as an example), which increases out-of-service time and cost.
Council members noted the broader right-to-repair debate and asked whether maintenance contracts or other procurement approaches could reduce costs. Palutti said he is investigating maintenance-contract options but that the problem is emerging as vehicles purchased in 2020–21 reach the stage when REGEN procedures and DEF-related failures become more frequent.
No formal budget vote was recorded at the work session; the item was discussed in the public works committee and will return to the council with a draft ordinance amending the 2025 budget. Palutti said the department's salt and sand stock is currently "right where we're supposed to be."
