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Onalaska council approves purchase of two electric squad cars and charging station
Summary
The Onalaska Common Council approved buying two electric police vehicles and installing a charging station, citing roughly $27,000 in purchase savings; council directed staff to return with a budget amendment for year-end accounting.
The Onalaska Common Council on Oct. 14 approved the purchase of two electric police vehicles and a new charging station, citing a vendor discount that will lower the total purchase and outfitting cost for the squad cars.
The council voted unanimously to proceed after police and finance staff told aldermen the vendor’s current incentives reduce the total vehicle-and-outfitting cost to about $148,448, a $27,152 reduction from the budgeted amount. Chief Ashbuck said the vehicles would likely be ordered now but paid in 2026 because delivery is expected in January or February.
City staff said proceeds of $17,725 from auctioning two older squad cars would help pay for the charger installation; staff estimated an additional $600 would be required to complete installation and recommended using equipment-replacement funds to make the purchase now rather than wait and risk higher prices.
The council heard operational and risk questions during discussion. Several aldermen asked about long-term resale value and vehicle obsolescence; Chief Ashbuck said the manufacturer provides an eight-year, 100,000-mile warranty on electrical components and that trade-in values for police EVs are still uncertain because municipal EV use remains relatively new. Alder Jurassic asked whether the city could continue core police functions if EVs were temporarily unusable during a broad power outage. The chief said the city generator at City Hall can power the chargers and that mutual aid and regional fast chargers provide additional resiliency; he said he would not advocate for an all-electric fleet and estimated he would be comfortable with roughly six EVs in the fleet under current infrastructure constraints.
Sabrina (city staff) told the council she will bring a budget-change item to the next meeting to account for the purchase in the 2026 budget documents, and the chief said the city will sell the two replaced vehicles at auction and return proceeds to equipment-replacement funds.
The motion to proceed with the purchase was made and seconded on the floor and carried 5-0.
Staff follow-up: finance staff will present a budget amendment at the next meeting documenting the use of equipment-replacement funds and the $17,725 auction receipts; the vehicles will be ordered now and are expected to be paid when invoiced in 2026.
