Council discusses Mayor’s Office vehicle purchase
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The mayor's office is looking to purchase the 2023 Chevrolet Trailblazer that is currently leased by the office, and a resolution approving this purchase was recently discussed during a City Council work session.
The total amount for the vehicle purchase would be $18,971.05, with payment to be made from the 2026 General Fund Capital Outlay account. Councilman Doug Scotchmer, D-Ward 4 and chair of the finance committee, said it was previously agreed to forward the use of contingency fund money for this purchase and to bring it to a vote at the October voting session.
"The reason for doing this was, if you lease a new vehicle, because the lease is up, that was going to jump the payments over $100 a month," Scotchmer said. "So I think people were thinking this was a wiser way to go. If you don't renew the lease or don't purchase it, then the mayor would have to look at what would have to be done then for transportation."
A question was also raised about mileage, and Mayor Kim Ecklund said that continues to go up.
"The bigger issue in my personal opinion is that it will also bump other mileage because I take other people with me to meetings, so those people would have to drive and that would double the mileage cost," Ecklund said. "I'm not going to be responsible in a personal vehicle for another employee, liability wise. I would expect other employees to do the same."
The car is also able to be used by other people if it goes in a fleet. Leasing was noted to no longer be a good option, and that while it used to be a benefit leasing prices have increased a lot. The current price for the vehicle's monthly lease is $339.49, and that is expected to increase by at least $100. As far as the expected lifetime of the vehicle goes, Ecklund added there is only just over 20,000 miles over it, so there would be at least three to five more years with it. There has also been very little maintenance on it, with only normal wear and tear expected. The resolution was approved by the finance committee to go to the voting session.