Conroe City Council approved a package of light-duty vehicle purchases March 26 tied to the city’s Vehicle Equipment Replacement Fund, or VERF, after staff said rebidding and a second review helped trim the overall cost.
What we know
Agenda records show the purchases were split between the fiscal year 2024-25 and FY 2025-26 budgets and included vehicles for multiple departments across the city.
During council discussion, Nancy Mikeska, deputy city administrator and director of community development, said the item had previously been deferred so staff could take another look at the bid package. She said the review found duplicate items and removed a roughly $58,000 truck tied to an unfunded position, bringing the package down from about $2.4 million to roughly $1.02 million.
Mikeska also told council the vehicles were not just for public works, but for departments including streets, signal maintenance, sewer, water, permits and building inspection, fire, engineering, surveying and inspections.
According to the purchasing memo in the agenda packet, the bid process began in October, and sealed bids were opened Nov. 20.
The memo states some of the vehicles had been put out for bid previously but received no bids, leading staff to defer and rebid them this budget year. The packet lists a total recommended amount of $1.07 million, including $513,544 from FY 2024-25 VERF funds and $566,278 from FY 2025-26 VERF funds.
Also of note
Council also approved an exception to the city’s employee handbook related to unused sick leave payouts. Staff said the change only applies to future hires and would not affect current employees.
Human Resources Director Andre Houser told council that finance projections showed the city’s non-civil-service sick leave payout liability grew from about $3 million in FY 2016 to about $6.5 million in the current fiscal year, and could reach roughly $19.7 million by 2040 if the policy stayed in place. He said the proposal was aimed at long-term financial stability.
Under the handbook amendment, non-civil-service employees hired or rehired after March 26 will no longer be eligible for a sick leave payout when they leave the city. Civil service employees hired or rehired after that date would still be eligible for up to 90 days of accumulated sick leave as required under state law, but would not receive additional sick leave payout at the end of employment.