Clay County approves lease of 10 sheriff’s vehicles from Enterprise Fleet Management

The Clay County Board of Commissioners approved a lease for 10 vehicles from Enterprise Fleet Management for the sheriff’s office, including the estimated vehicle upfitting costs, following a presentation by Sheriff Empt on fleet needs and costs.

Sheriff Empt asked the board to approve the lease to replace existing leased vehicles and listed an available internal service fund balance and several cost figures. He said internal service funds available were $668,583.62 (as read in the transcript) and that the program produces an estimated annual lease cost of about $177,848.40. Several other totals cited in the transcript (including the overall lease total and the upfitting total) were garbled in the recorded text; those figures are recorded in the meeting record as read aloud and are noted here as not specified or unclear in the transcript.

Commissioners discussed mileage patterns and resale strategy: deputies can accumulate widely different annual miles (one deputy might put 115,000–120,000 miles in three years while others put 85,000–100,000), and Enterprise works with county staff to cycle vehicles out before resale to maximize return. Commissioner Bear asked about average mileage; Sheriff Empt described Enterprise’s quarterly fleet reviews and coordination with county staff to identify vehicles to cycle out earlier if needed.

Commissioner Bear moved to approve the lease and estimated fit-up costs; Commissioner Ebinger seconded and the motion carried on a voice vote. Commissioners and the sheriff framed leasing as a cost-benefit strategy that provides predictable budgeting and better resale outcomes compared with ad-hoc purchases.

The motion authorizes the county to proceed with the Enterprise lease program and the estimated fit-up expenditures described at the meeting; the transcript does not show a roll-call vote or a full, unambiguous accounting of the total lump-sum cost in the record, so specific overall-dollar totals beyond the presented internal service fund balance and the noted annual estimate are recorded as not specified in this article.