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Hortonville board votes to sell police pickup after hours-long fleet debate
Summary
After more than two hours of debate about fleet management, usage and resale value, the board voted to sell the recently purchased police pickup truck; members split over resource management and operational needs but motion passed on roll call.
The Village Board voted to sell a police pickup truck after extended discussion about fleet size, usage patterns and the financial trade-offs of retaining a fifth vehicle.
The debate opened during the unfinished-business portion of the agenda, with Speaker 4 expressing concern that "government resources very rarely ever shrink" and urging caution before expanding the police fleet. Several board members said the pickup had been bought with the idea it eventually would be passed to public works but that plan had not materialized; Speaker 4 said the truck has low mileage (about 9,000 miles) and therefore could fetch more on the resale market than older, higher-mileage units.
Police Chief Chris (Speaker 6) described multiple operational instances in recent months where the truck or an additional vehicle proved useful: elections staffing, court travel that forced overtime, training events that required hauling a generator, trunk-or-treat set-up and transport of animal cages to a humane society. "We had several incidents where we could have used the fifth vehicle," Speaker 6 said, listing examples where the pickup’s cargo capacity and utility were operationally important.
Board members discussed alternatives including rotating vehicles to equalize annual mileage, outfitting an older SUV for patrol use, selling a different vehicle (e.g., a 2022 SUV), or keeping the truck as a backup. Concerns were raised about resale value after removing police equipment (light bars, cages, consoles) and about the cost to outfit a replacement vehicle for patrol duty.
Ultimately Speaker 4 moved to reduce the fleet by selling the pickup truck; following a second, a roll-call vote passed with one nay and a majority in favor. The board directed staff to remove police equipment and prepare the vehicle for sale and to report proceeds and recommended disposition of proceeds (general fund vs. CIP) at a later date.
The vote closes a months-long operational question over whether to maintain five police vehicles, how to manage fleet rotation and how to recoup CIP expenditures when equipment plans change.
