South Salt Lake fire chief urges council to lease replacement engines, ambulances to lock pricing

On April 2, 2025, South Salt Lake Fire Chief Terry Addison told the City Council at a work meeting that the fire department needs to secure replacement fire apparatus through lease agreements to lock prices and manage procurement lead times.

Addison said the department has 74 personnel — 69 in suppression and five in administration and fire marshals — and emphasized its ISO 1 accreditation, one of only two in Utah. He said rising materials costs and tariff risks have driven replacement prices sharply higher and argued a lease approach would protect the city and lower legal costs compared with bond financing.

Addison said the engine the city bought in 2019 cost $680,000 and would now cost roughly $1,150,000, an increase he described as about 80 percent. He recommended lease terms no longer than seven years to match the department’s planned eight-year rotation for frontline vehicles and to take advantage of prepaid discounts.

“We’ve identified that replacing some ambulances and fire engines are our top priority due to the lead times and trying to beat the tariffs that we foresee coming, especially on the steel and the aluminum,” Addison said. He described lease agreements as similar to installment sales contracts that are tax-exempt, may include non-appropriation clauses and generally are not classified as municipal debt subject to voter referendum.

Addison said the combined cost for the example ambulance and fire engine discussed would be “close to $3,000,000.” He said the department has purchased three ambulances that it is still waiting to receive and that additional apparatus would increase coverage downtown and provide a reserve unit to respond when other agencies cover South Salt Lake.

Council members asked about vehicle disposition and resale. Addison said vehicles rotate into reserve when replaced and, when removed from reserve, typically are sold as surplus. He estimated resale values for 16-year-old vehicles at roughly $12,000 to $30,000 depending on condition, noting heavy use and changing NFPA safety standards.

No formal action or vote was taken at the work meeting; Addison’s presentation was one of several five-minute budget briefings. Council members were invited to submit follow-up questions by email and ask staff to return for more detailed discussion.

Details from the department’s presentation included the recommended seven-year lease cap, a plan to use leases to capture prepaid discounts, and a recognition that replacement lead times mean procurement decisions should be made well before vehicle delivery.