SPRINGFIELD — As a way to save money on repair costs and reduce the amount of time vehicles will spend out of service, the city of Springfield will replace a portion of their “citywide” aging fleet using a free cash transfer and through bonding.
After backing the transfer of $1 million in free cash during its regular meeting in May, the Springfield City Council approved a $3.3 million bond authorization during its June 2 meeting to help pay for vehicles that need to be replaced.
DPW Director Chris Cignoli told the council that the $4.3 million will pay for 37 vehicles across city departments, including nine vehicles for Parks and Recreation, five for facilities, seven for DPW and nine for the DPW enterprise fund.
The money will also fund four new trash trucks, one for the Health Department and two for Animal Control.
None of the purchases include the Fire or Police departments, however, Cignoli said he will eventually put together a five-year plan of purchases for DPW, police and fire in the near future.
“The $3.3 [million] is going to be the purchase now, and as we move forward, we need [to put together] a comprehensive plan so that three departments — DPW, police and fire — aren’t showing up three months in a row asking for $5 million,” Cignoli said.
During the May City Council meeting, Chief Administrative Financial Officer Cathy Buono said the reason why the city is only bonding $3.3 million out of the total $4.3 million is so the city’s budget does not increase.
She shared that the $1 million in free cash will pay for smaller vehicles while the $3.3 million bond will fund the larger ones.
Prior to the bond vote, Ward 4 City Councilor Malo Brown asked if the city is “truly concentrating” on purchasing fuel efficient vehicles with this money. Cignoli said, “absolutely.”
“A large portion of this purchase is going to be passenger vehicles, code enforcement and other departments that need them,” Cignoli said. “And those vehicles now are highly fuel efficient. The trash trucks, surprisingly enough, are about as fuel efficient as they can get.”
