The Town of Saugerties now leases Jeep Cherokees for some of its supervisors and other personnel who need the cars to conduct town business. There has been some discussion over time about whether buying cars for these employees to use would make more sense.
The Saugerties Town Board voted at its regular meeting on Wednesday, December 14 to buy three used Dodge Angostura to replace three vehicles at the end of their lessees, rather than renew the leases. “The reason we lease these vehicles is because they are assigned to a particular officer or part of the administrative staff, so they’re not out three shifts a day,” said Supervisor Fred Costello. “Patrol cars generally get abused; they are out three shifts a day with at least two operators on many occasions per day and they really don’t get a break. Many of these cars are worn out before the three-year lease period.”
Costello praised Councilman Mike Ivino and Police Chief Joe Sinagra for their efforts in studying the issues and developing the solution the board was about to vote on.
The resolution includes the amount to be paid for the vehicles, $65,388. Funding is available through ARPA, the American Rescue Plan Act.
The aim is to build up a cycle of purchasing vehicles, rather than leasing. This offers a better alternative than a cycle of lease payments each year, Costello said.
Ivino said during discussions at the pre-board meeting that he could only support the motion if the board agreed to put money saved by not buying new vehicles into a fund for the regular purchase of police vehicles. The board voted later in the meeting to set up the fund, with an initial payment of $25,000.
Ivino also praised Police Chief Sinagra and Buildings and Grounds Director Greg Chorvas, noting that they headed the largest of the town’s departments and found their budget requests cut frequently, but were willing to work with the board to deal with the need for savings, and the resulting cuts to their budgets
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