Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Fleet Management topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Cheverly council hears proposal to lease police vehicles to cut maintenance and fuel costs
Summary
A Capital Ford representative and Chief Dave Morris presented a plan to shift part of the town’s police fleet from purchases to leases, saying a 4–5 year cycling strategy could reduce maintenance and fuel costs and produce estimated five‑year savings of about $341,000; council and residents asked for more budget detail and staged fiscal-year timing.
A Capital Ford representative and Cheverly officials outlined a proposal on March 26 to move part of the town’s police fleet from outright purchases to a municipal lease program, arguing a planned cycling schedule and newer vehicles could lower maintenance and fuel expenses.
Eric Mountain of Capital Ford told the council the industry “sweet spot” for municipal police vehicles is about five years or roughly 93,000 miles, because an extended powertrain warranty (5 years/100,000 miles through Capital Ford) remains transferable and resale demand is highest in the 75,000–100,000‑mile range. “We want to fish where the fish are,” Mountain said, explaining that newer vehicles reduce downtime and per‑mile maintenance costs.
Mountain presented industry‑standard cost‑per‑mile tiers and a five‑year scenario that would lease 10 vehicles in the first year and cycle others in subsequent years; he said the town’s 23‑unit fleet currently averages about 16.2 mpg and that the proposed plan could reduce the town’s fleet spend by an estimated $341,297 over five years. “Newer vehicles cost less money to operate,” Mountain said.
Chief Dave Morris, who introduced the department’s reliance on a functioning fleet, told council members the department has 23 vehicles and 18 officers and described recent maintenance pressure: “We have already exceeded our maintenance budget for this year in part because we resurrected six cars,” Morris said, noting some revitalized vehicles have required several thousand dollars in repairs despite relatively low mileage.
Town Administrator Mr. Galloway said staff plan to fold any lease decision into the FY2027 budget rather than act immediately. Councilmember comments focused on clarifying how long the town keeps vehicles, the current maintenance budget (the chief said last year’s maintenance budget was about $35,000) and how lease payments would be accounted for in operating budgets.
Residents who spoke during public comment generally supported updating the fleet. Sean Patrick McGuire of Ward 2 said shifting some costs into FY2027 “sounds great,” and Leila Riazi (Ward 1) urged the town to consider visibility and community‑policing tradeoffs when specifying vehicle tinting or unmarked units. Chief Morris said officers are instructed to put windows down in summer when possible to improve community contact but noted electronic equipment heat concerns make some tinting necessary.
Next steps: staff said they will re-run the proposal’s numbers using final upfit costs and return to council in April with more detailed budget language for inclusion in the FY2027 process. The council did not take a formal action to adopt the lease program at the March 26 work session.
