Jun. 16—WEATHERFORD — The debate between leasing and purchasing led to a lengthy conversation with Weatherford council members and city officials Tuesday.
Weatherford Police Chief Lance Arnold said the department has faced numerous challenges when it comes to replacing its auto fleet as a result of rigid procurement processes, delays in production and rising costs of vehicles and upfitting equipment.
As an example, Arnold pointed to council's approval in May of last year for six Chevrolet Tahoes.
"That just secured our place in line for a bill that wouldn't really occur until September of this year," he said. "And even with that, we know of cases where numbers were cut short.
"There's no guarantee that we'll get the six Tahoes, no guarantee that we can do anything to affect our aging fleet."
In the last five years, the WPD has been able to replace about 40 percent of its 62 vehicles. The Tahoes would bring that number up to about 50 percent.
"Even over five years, replacing half of your fleet becomes problematic," Arnold said, noting the department still has several vehicles pending repairs of $13,000 to $16,000, and older vehicles with more than 100,000 miles that would not be worth the cost to repair them.
As a result, the chief suggested council look at approving an agreement with D&M Leasing for a five-year lease of 15 upfitted 2023 Dodge Chargers at an amount of $265,000 per year.
The agreement "would allow us to start replacing our vehicles, and the 15 would all go into patrol," Arnold said. "Twenty-eight are current patrol vehicles with an average age of six years, and 17 have over 75,000 miles."
The open-end lease agreement would be a "pilot program" and, if continued, would allow the department to replace 12 vehicles throughout the entire fleet over a five-year process.
City Manager James Hotopp noted those 15 vehicles are on the lot and available now.
To a question from council member Zach Smith, Arnold said there would not be any repercussions if council chose to cancel last year's purchase order of the Tahoes.
"The demand is so high that they will have zero problems with them getting rid of the vehicles," he said.
Mayor Pro Tem Heidi Wilder expressed her disdain for leasing programs, and noted the fire department had attempted to do something similar with equipment in 2012, calling it a "very bad experience."
"I understand that we need to do [this] now, but I'm concerned," she said. "I've not found that leasing gives you the same cost benefit."