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Owasso staff outlines mixed buy/lease plan, highlights "99% down" option to modernize city fleet
Summary
City staff told the Owasso City Council that leasing with Enterprise Fleet Management has lowered average fleet age and operating costs and recommended a blended strategy that favors outright purchase when practical while keeping a retainer for remarketing; staff explained a 99% down option to preserve control and reduce charges.
City staff presented the results of the city's leasing program with Enterprise Fleet Management and urged a blended acquisition strategy that would keep majority ownership while preserving Enterprise's remarketing services.
A presenter said the city has leased 51 vehicles since the program began and that "the average fleet age has decreased from 10 years to 5 years for leased vehicles" as newer units replaced surplus assets. The presenter said maintenance costs fell from about $146 per unit per month to roughly $36 and that fuel economy improved by about 1.5 miles per gallon, producing estimated operating savings and higher resale equity.
Why it matters: staff told council that the savings on maintenance and fuel can be partly offset by lease charges and that a one-size-fits-all leasing approach leaves the city with limited exit options. To address that, staff recommended a mixed plan that favors buying low-mileage, long-use vehicles outright while retaining a retainer agreement with Enterprise for acquisition and remarketing support.
Staff walked council through a financing option described as the "99% strategy," in which the city makes a large down payment so it effectively owns about 99 percent of a vehicle while keeping a small financed balance so Enterprise retains title and continues to provide services. Using a quoted example for a 2026 Dodge Durango, staff showed that with the 99% approach lease charges fall sharply: "for $31.39 a month for 4 years, we own 99% of that vehicle," the presenter said.
Staff also explained how remarketing credits work: Enterprise can credit gains from the sale of a traded-in vehicle to the next acquisition or cut a check to the city. In the example shown, a conservative resale credit of $14,500 from a traded vehicle was applied to reduce the capitalized cost of the replacement.
The presentation included a proposed Fleet Utilization Scoring (FUS) system, adapted from Tulsa, to prioritize replacements by age, mileage, reliability and repair costs; assets would receive up to 26 points, with higher scores indicating higher replacement priority. Staff said they have a draft scoring model and will perform condition assessments over the coming year with the goal of having the tool usable with recommendations next fiscal year.
Financial context: staff reported the city has paid roughly $257,000 in lease-related fees and that fiscal-year-25 lease payments were about $442,000; if the program reaches 100 leased vehicles as projected, annual payments could reach about $800,000 while projected maintenance and fuel returns over the same multi-year period were estimated at roughly $500,000.
Council members pressed staff on which vehicles should be bought versus leased; staff recommended buying low-mileage, low-utilization vehicles (city "white fleet" sedans and half-ton pickups are typically 6–7,000 miles per year) and reserving leases for higher-mileage or specialized units such as patrol cars and fire apparatus.
No council votes were recorded on the proposal at the meeting. Staff said the finance director and city manager will use FUS output, budget availability and year-to-year forecasting to decide which vehicles to replace and which acquisition method to use. The presentation closed with staff saying they will continue refining the plan and implementing the condition-assessment work needed to operationalize the FUS recommendations.
