Council to authorize police vehicle purchase from public safety reserve; questions about fleet size and tracking

Councilors discussed and agreed to move a budgeted police vehicle purchase to the consent agenda, with staff noting the vehicle procurement would be piggybacked on an Onondaga County bid and paid from the city’s public safety reserve.

Staff said the contract amount for the marked vehicle is “just under $50,000” and that upfitting costs (radios, lights, and equipment) would be additional; the transcript referenced an upfitting contract of roughly $26,000. Staff described a 5‑year replacement schedule for marked patrol vehicles and said the police department currently had about 10 vehicles used for patrol or assigned to detectives, plus others used for special units such as an SRT vehicle, a speed trailer and undercover vehicles.

Councilors asked how many patrol cars are generally on the road and whether the public safety reserve had been used elsewhere; staff reported the reserve paid for two police cars (totaling $140,000 mentioned later in the transcript), portable radios for the fire department and a communications upgrade in recent budget cycles and said they would provide an updated reserve balance on request. Several councilors asked that staff present the price, replacement schedule and reserve status when the item comes forward on the consent agenda. One councilor also suggested the council be informed of the timing for purchasing an additional unmarked vehicle; staff said pricing for that vehicle was still pending.

No roll‑call vote was recorded in the discussion; staff said the formal action requested would be a council motion to approve use of the public safety reserve and authorize a contract with Van Bortle Ford on the consent agenda.