The tally comes to $651,600 worth of vroom. It's business as usual as far as city officials are concerned, an unwise expense if you ask a minority member of the Missoula City Council, and a perk for the sellers who aren't moving much of anything these days.
“The truck business is just like everything right now. It's definitely off. That's all there is to it,” said Mike Burton, president of Missoula Truck Sales.
Ronan Dodge got that contract, and fleet manager Dick Wunderlich said cities “tailgate” off a state bid to get a good deal. The price includes cages, bumpers and nearly everything but the light bars and sirens. He also said he isn't making much money off the police cars.
“Bidding cars, you just don't make diddly, but somebody has to do it,” Wunderlich said. So why bother? “It puts you in a better light with the company (Chrysler).”
The purchases are routine and not a spending spree, according to a city official. Chief administrative officer Bruce Bender said buying rigs is something the city typically does after its budget is in place.
“This is routinely the time you try to get them bid and ordered,” Bender said.
The need for the cars this year is fairly normal, but the large trucks aren't always on the shopping list. They last some 10 or 15 years and are on a replacement schedule, as are things like street sweepers and fire engines. In a couple years, Bender said the Missoula Fire Department will need a $1 million ladder truck, a big-ticket item that lasts some 20 years.
“We have historically tried to run those through a general obligation bond ... 'cause we usually can't afford to do that,” Bender said.
Some members of the council aren't sure the city can afford the purchases it's making this year, though. Ward 2 Councilman John Hendrickson said he wants to see the city be more frugal with its capital improvement plan budget, or CIP budget. The police cars don't come out of that budget but the trucks do, Hendrickson said. So that's why he opposed them.
“I'm not comfortable with the increase in our credit card financing,” Hendrickson said.
If the CIP budget is $1.2 million next year, Hendrickson said some $700,000 is already obligated and a lot of the money goes toward interest. He said he worries next year's CIP budget won't be $1.2 million because of budget constraints.
“So what gets cut? We can't cut our credit card bills because we're committed to those,” he said.
City finance director Brentt Ramharter said the CIP is intended for such purchases, and most of the $700,000 goes toward principal. Plus, he said the equipment is necessary.
“This is how these people get their work done. This is core to the city delivering service,” Ramharter said.
He said the city is trying to spread out the cost of new equipment over the next few years, and deferring the purchases will only mean higher costs later. The city is paying interest rates of 4 percent to 5 percent and paying off the equipment in three, five and 10 years maximum. In a memo explaining the financing, Ramharter said the future debt service payments never exceed 4 percent of the general fund budget.
“This is not large and must be looked at in relation to the size of city that we are. I do not think that there are too many corporations of comparable size that have that low of a debt load,” he writes.
For Burton, at Missoula Truck Sales, the bleak year may sting a little sharper. The homegrown company celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, but Burton picks a funny way to commemorate the milestone. What is he doing?
“Crying,” Burton joked. “I started sweeping the floors here when I was 12 years old. I turned 60 last August.”
His retirement isn't on the calendar yet, he said. In the early years, he said the logging industry helped sustain the business. That was the case until the 1970s.
“We would sell more logging trucks and logging-related equipment than anything else,” Burton said.
Then, the company broadened its horizons and started selling a little bit of everything. This year, manufacturer numbers all have fallen, one sitting as low as 39 percent below last year, he said.
Sales generally slow down over the holidays, but this year the stale economy isn't helping the downturn. Burton said that in November he sold a couple used trucks, and a new one to the fire department in Hamilton, “certainly nothing to brag about.”
“My crystal ball certainly is foggy or broke because I don't have any idea when or what it's going to take to get things perking again,” Burton said.
Reporter Keila Szpaller can be reached at 523-5262 or at keila.szpaller@missoulian.com.
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Fred Garvin wrote on Nov 30, 2008 2:34 AM: