Costs to maintain Augusta’s massive fleet of cars, trucks and equipment continues to add up.
The Augusta Commission is set to approve Tuesday a one-year contract extension and hourly rate increases for contractor First Vehicle Services.
The extension will cost $3.2 million, an increase of $184,061 over 2023, according to the proposal from Interim Central Services Director Ron Lampkin.
The rates for non-contract labor are going from $28 to $30 per hour and from $48 to $50 per hour for after-hours repairs, it said.
At those rates, for contract labor at full usage on the city’s fleet of 1,141 vehicles the proposed cost comes to $3.9 million. Anticipated non-contract labor adds another $2.1 million.
Coupling full labor costs with the contract fee, the city would be spending more than $9 million with First Vehicle this year.
The actual expense would likely be less, but Augusta’s fleet maintenance costs have frequently been eye-popping. Last year, the city paid First Vehicle almost $5 million. Since 2018, Augusta has spent nearly $30 million with the firm.
The costliest division has been and remains the sheriff’s road patrol, which has some 299 cruisers that cost more than $1 million in contract hours annually to maintain.
Other contracts the commission is set to approve Tuesday include:
- A master services agreement with ADP to implement comprehensive human resources information and payroll systems, replacing the various systems the city currently uses. The additions plus existing expenses minus any cost-savings will bring the city’s annual expense to would bring the city’s net yearly cost to around $910,000.
- A $90,000 contract with PAS Consulting Group LLC to develop and administer promotional assessments for Augusta Fire Department
In other action Tuesday:
- Commissioners Bobby Williams and Catherine Smith McKnight have called to discuss lighting on busy Jimmie Dyess Parkway.
- The commission is set to hear presentation of an October report, delayed several times, from Central EMS, the city’s EMS provider since April.
- Mayor Garnett Johnson gives his first “State of the City” address at 1 p.m. in the commission chamber. The public is invited and the speech will be live-streamed, according to a statement from the mayor’s office.
