Council debates fleet lease program: which vehicles to rotate at 3 years versus 5 years

Councilors spent a large portion of the meeting on a technical but consequential debate over the city's fleet-lease program after staff described the move from Bancorp to Unified Fleet and the lease structure that places some payments on the back end of the contract.

S1 described the program and warned that, on average, holding vehicles longer than three years could increase costs by about 8–18% for many vehicle types. Council members said daily-use pickup trucks and similar units make sense on a three-year rotation because the resale value is best then; several members urged that specialty apparatus—heavy equipment, brush trucks and certain fire apparatus—need a different treatment. S5 and the chief noted brush trucks are upfitted and behave like specialty units, and Unified recommended brush trucks be rotated on a five-year cycle. Councilors asked staff to return with analysis that compares lease costs vs. owning and to provide baseline comparisons showing net savings or additional cost over time.

S5 recommended bringing an action item to surplus two brush trucks and begin the rotation process; staff said design and procurement timelines mean these vehicles would effectively be close to five years if the council moves now. Council agreed to further evaluation, including an operational/financial comparison showing year-by-year net cost under leasing vs. owning.