Council hears details on central garage and vehicle replacement fund; $2.3M balance planned

Sherry, city staff presenting the proposed budget, told aldermen the session would conclude discussion of the city’s internal service funds, including the central garage, vehicle replacement and self-insurance accounts.

The central garage account now budgets for eight full-time mechanics — one paid by transit and assigned primarily to buses — after the department handled more than 3,700 job orders last year, Kevin, central garage supervisor, said. He told the council equipment replacement parts are up about $50,000 and the department has added a new lift budgeted at $110,000 to handle larger vehicles. Mechanics will receive a $750 annual small‑tools allowance under the proposal.

Those increases are part of a broader vehicle-replacement plan. Sherry said the vehicle replacement fund is projected to hold roughly $2,300,000 after the April allocation; the proposed departmental contributions for the coming year are budgeted at $779,000. The fund is intended to smooth capital costs so departments do not face large single‑year spikes when vehicles are replaced.

The budget documents show about 50 city vehicles are currently funded through the replacement program, while roughly 44 city vehicles are not participating. Sherry and council members discussed whether participation should be mandatory. Sherry said the vehicle list excludes transit, water and sewer enterprise fleets because those operations use separate replacement policies. She said citywide there are about 133 vehicles and 94 designated essential under the current definitions.

Planned purchases identified in the presentation include a garbage truck (Sherry said the $340,000 figure relates to a truck “that would only require one operator”), a concrete/dump vehicle, $150,000 set aside for a new loader, two patrol cars and one canine vehicle budgeted at $200,000 for the police department, and $40,000 for a planning inspection vehicle. Sherry said a contingency balance remains for unexpected needs.

Aldermen pressed staff about departments that have not been contributing. Sherry said a prior one-time PPRT (Personal Property Replacement Tax) supplemental provided seed money to bring some departments into the fund, and she recommended adopting a formal policy so departments cannot opt out in the future. She said she had a draft policy prepared earlier and would present it for council action.

Kevin and other staff answered technical questions about the garage building replacement, training and diagnostic software for vehicle computers. Kevin said the new garage building construction is progressing and the department is seeking grants to reimburse some capital costs if available.

The budget hearing continued with other funds after the fleet discussion; council adjourned the hearing and moved on to the regular council meeting at the hearing’s close.