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Tipp City Council moves $200,000 to buy three hybrid police vehicles after fleet failures
Summary
Council approved an amendment to the 2025 appropriations to accelerate purchase of three hybrid patrol vehicles, citing a current patrol-car shortage and contract timing that would delay replacements until mid-2026.
Tipp City Council approved an amendment to the 2025 appropriations on June 2 to move up the purchase of police vehicles from 2026 into 2025, council members said. The ordinance authorizes $200,000 from the capital improvement fund to cover the purchases and passed by roll call vote.
Council action matters because city staff said the police fleet is already short one patrol car and another vehicle is showing transmission problems, creating an operational need to replace vehicles sooner than planned.
City staff member Mack told the council the ordinance would move the purchase of patrol vehicles forward after an engine failure in one car. "We had engine failure in one of our patrol vehicles," Mack said. He said the funding would come from the capital improvement fund and that the purchase covers three vehicles.
A member of the public, Abby Bowling of 861 Hawthorne, asked whether the department had tried hybrid or electric vehicles and how charging would be handled. "Have we had any hybrid vehicles before? And are we sure this is okay? Should we buy a whole fleet before we even try one? And then the other one is how do we charge them? Because the last I knew, we only had, like, two charging stations in the city," Bowling said.
Police leadership and staff responded that the planned cars are hybrid models, not plug-in electric vehicles. "These are hybrids. These are not plug-in electric vehicles," said the police chief (identified in the meeting as Chief Ted). The chief and Mack said other departments have seen lower lifetime maintenance costs with hybrids and that was part of the decision.
The chief further told the council that the city had missed a manufacturer cutoff for ordering cars for the 2026 build cycle but has a signed agreement to hold the three vehicles if council approves the purchase. He said the city is currently down one car and that transmission problems on another vehicle make replacements more urgent. "We do have a signed agreement to hold these for us. So if we don't do this, we will not be able to buy any cars in 2026 until May of 2026," the chief said. Staff also estimated the city would save about $4,100 per car by buying now rather than delaying until 2026.
Council members asked follow-up questions about procurement timing and vendor reliability; Mayor Rogers and other members acknowledged recent supply-chain delays for police vehicles since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The council approved the ordinance by roll call as Ordinance 7 25. The vote on the ordinance was recorded as unanimous "Yes" votes from Council members present.
The ordinance is limited to moving the appropriation for vehicle purchases and does not set long-term fleet electrification policy. Council members said vehicle procurement and broader budget impacts can be revisited during the annual budget process.
Ending: The appropriation amendment takes effect with the council's passage; staff will proceed with the purchase under the terms described to council and bring related procurement details to future budget discussions.
