To lease or not to lease?

To lease or not to lease was a question before the Green River City Council Tuesday night.

The council debated if it should allow the Green River Police Department the ability to lease two patrol vehicles to replace two vehicles totaled by lightning damage earlier this year, ultimately approving the request unanimously. Insurance pay outs were made to both vehicles, which totaled almost $45,000, though wouldn’t have been enough to cover the cost of the two vehicles.

According to GRPD Chief Chris Steffen, leasing the vehicles would allow the department to save some of the upfront costs associated with purchasing vehicles. While their insurance payout would cover the cost of a single patrol vehicle, taking out a lease would allow the department to replace both vehicles. However, Councilman Gary Killpack initially disagreed with the proposal, believing the department would be better served by using the money to purchase a single patrol vehicle.

“I’m just not a lease person,” Killpack explained.

KIllpack asked if Steffen could wait six months to see what the city’s revenues would look like for the next fiscal year, however Steffen said the vehicles were a necessity.

According to city documents, the insurance funds would cover the first two years of the leases, though the department would need $16,000 to cover leasing and finance costs in the first year, as well as partial funding in the final year.

The unfortunate fact regarding the lightning incident was it totaled two of the department’s newer vehicles. Many of the patrol cars in service are from 2006 and while the department currently has a pool of four vehicles not assigned to officers, they are the oldest of the fleet.

With two officers in training and a third under administrative leave, the pool would only have one spare vehicle left. The department practices a one-car per-officer policy. Steffen said the older vehicles have minor issues that can make an eight-hour patrol shift uncomfortable for officers in those vehicles.

Steffen also said a problem arises when the older vehicles see more use, it becomes difficult to judge when major repair work will be required when problems with the engine or transmission develop. The repair costs alone would total into the thousands and Steffen believes the repair costs would start eating up city funds.

“You can’t run these vehicles into the ground,” Steffen said.

For Killpack, the issue comes from a fear the city won’t have the best deal for its leased police vehicles.

The leases cover 12,000 miles each year for the life of the three-year lease. Steffen admits the 12,000 miles per year might be tight as far as usage goes, Steffen said the department needs reliable vehicles to respond to emergencies in a timely manner.

Mayor Pete Rust said residents’ lives depend on the performance of those vehicles, believing fire and police departments should always come first.

“Those vehicles are not luxury items,” Rust said.