Commission questions vehicle leases after town refreshed fleet without prior approval

Commissioners at the Jan. 7 workshop questioned administrative procurement after finance staff reported the town had refreshed most of its vehicle fleet through a master lease with Enterprise.

Finance Director James Daverman said the town replaced 16 vehicles across police (3), public works (11) and building (2) with 60‑month leases under a master agreement; staff cited a five‑year total cost of $946,770.38 and said vehicles would be refreshed every four or five years thereafter. Daverman said some driver assignments were not yet entered in the backup because of turnover and promised to provide an updated list of VINs, assigned drivers and gas‑card assignments to the commission.

Several commissioners pressed why the leases were executed before coming to the commission. Staff said department heads approved purchases internally under the existing master agreement and that the town will follow up to ensure future vehicle acquisitions come to the commission as required. Commissioners placed the item on consent after the discussion and requested clearer procurement backup showing intended vehicle drivers and departmental assignments.

Transcript contained garbled references to monthly costs per vehicle that could not be confirmed from the verbal record; staff provided the five‑year total in the meeting’s packet and committed to circulate corrected backup to commissioners.