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On Tuesday, the Troup County Board of Commissioners approved a lease agreement with Enterprise Fleet Management for public safety vehicles.

Rather than purchasing public safety vehicles outright, the county will lease them through Enterprise. The move is expected to create cost savings in the long run and also allow public safety personnel to have newer, safer vehicles on the road.

The change is a first for the county, which has traditionally purchased public safety vehicles when needed but these days that can be difficult with lease times for vehicles being six months or more. Enterprise’s connections with manufacturers means the county can get vehicles quicker when they need them.

The initial plan is to test the waters by utilizing the leasing program only for public safety vehicles. Other vehicles in the county’s 300-plus vehicle fleet could transition to the leasing model if the program is successful.

County staff believe the leasing model will create savings in the long run due to reduced repair costs.  Many of the sheriff’s office’s patrol vehicles are so worn out that repairing them is no longer cost-effective. With the new leasing model, they can be swapped out every four to five years, which will drastically reduce shop costs.

“A lot of our cars are absolutely just falling apart with 200,000 miles and some close to 300,000 miles,” Sheriff James Woodruff said, recommending the lease agreement.

Since the vehicles will no longer be driven until they are worn out, the county can sell them back at the end of the lease and get credit toward their next leases.

The initial leasing agreements will provide a total of 25 public safety vehicles. The first agreement would provide the sheriff’s office with 16 Ford Interceptors, two Chevy Silverado pickup trucks, a Chevy Trailblazer and a Chevy Malibu for an annual cost of $304,806. The second lease would provide two Ford F150s, two Ford F250s and a Chevy Express 2500 van for an annual cost of $74,421.48.

County Manager Eric Mosley said the lease funds will be paid for using money they had already set aside to purchase new vehicles.

The commissioners unanimously approved the leasing agreement with Enterprise with a 4-0 vote.