Circleville – City Council aims at possibly saving the citizen’s tax dollars by entering an agreement with Enterprise Fleet Management to lease city vehicles.
The resolution came before the Finance Committee, marking the culmination of months of collaboration between Auditor Mark Bidwell, and Jim Stanley from Enterprise. This initiative, termed a vehicle leasing and replacement program, aimed at significant cost savings for the city.
At Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, attended by nearly all members, detailed discussions unfolded, highlighting the substantial potential savings achievable through the proposed program. The primary focus of the resolution was to enable the city to enter into an agreement with Enterprise, facilitating the financial aspects of the plan.
Mayor Blanton emphasized that the proposed vehicle replacements were not part of the current discussion, as the objective was solely to authorize the agreement between the city and Enterprise. Representatives from Enterprise were present to address any queries from council members or the public.
Ross VanBibber, representing Enterprise, underscored the deep personal ties he had to Circleville, although not a native, and that he had reached out to the city to offer the program. He outlined the core principle behind the initiative, emphasizing the advantages of utilizing newer vehicles sourced through government channels. He highlighted potential savings on maintenance and fuel costs, along with benefits from leasing or financing arrangements.
VanBibber mentioned specific examples of cost savings, such as significant discounts on police pursuit vehicles and fuel discounts through partnership arrangements. He emphasized Enterprise’s commitment to providing comprehensive services, including vehicle outfitting and maintenance management.
“The mindset behind that is if you run newer younger vehicles, and you get those vehicles at the best pricing which we can access through the government buy, and then cycle younger vehicles, you can save a lot of money when it comes to maintenance expenses, as well as fuel expenditures. And when leasing or financing. Instead of basically spending a lump sum of cash, you can get many more newer vehicles for the city as well.”
Discussion ensued regarding the integration of existing vehicles into the program and the logistics of vehicle repairs. Enterprise assured seamless integration of local vendors for repairs, accompanied by comprehensive data tracking for transparency and efficiency.
Councilperson Hedges said that they inserted real historical City numbers into the Enterprises plan and it showed that the City could save around half of a million dollars over ten years.
Council members expressed their appreciation for the potential time and cost savings offered by the program. Reported that through this service Enterprise would outfit the police vehicles, schedule maintenance and repairs, and deal with issues that was normally dealt with with regular staffing creating more efficiencies.
With unanimous support from the committee, the resolution was moved for immediate consideration. A motion to suspend the rules was entertained and promptly seconded, leading to unanimous approval for further action on the resolution on its first reading.
