Hundreds of Cincinnati’s vehicles need to be replaced, but the first draft of the next city budget doesn’t include enough money to replace them all.
City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee Chair Jeff Cramerding says the $10.6 million in the city manager’s proposal falls short.
"It's less than last year," Cramerding told WVXU. "That part is troubling in trying to assure we can provide basic city services — potholes, snow removal, fire — these are very critical. So it's definitely a troubling part of this budget that we'll be looking at raising it and also having a plan moving forward."
| Fiscal Year | Fleet Replacement Budget |
| 2021 | $4,570,000 |
| 2022 | $10,484,000 |
| 2023 | $5,702,000 |
| 2024 | $8,736,000 |
| 2025 | $13,123,000 |
| 2026* | $10,626,000 |
The city fleet includes 2,623 vehicles across all departments, including police cars, fire trucks, ambulances, mowers, garbage trucks, and snow plows.
A city vehicle is considered out of lifecycle if it meets two of three criteria related to age, mileage, and maintenance costs. But Fleet Service Manager Liam Norton told City Council this week that with limited funds available, it's not possible to replace all vehicles at that point.
"Primarily, we're focused on equipment that meets all three criteria," Norton said.
As of April 2025, 127 vehicles meet all three criteria, and the estimated cost to replace them all is $17.4 million. The proposed $10.6 million would not even cover the highest need, let alone the roughly 400 additional vehicles that already meet two of the three criteria.
Norton says it's become increasingly difficult to replace vehicles, and not just because prices have gone up.
"In the last four or five years, the timeline — right along with pricing for equipment — has drastically increased," Norton said. "And so we've had productive conversations with purchasing about the best ways to procure these vehicles and try to get them in the most cost effective and timely manner that we can."
Norton says current delivery times vary depending on the type of vehicle:
- Passenger vehicle/pickup truck = three to six months
- Police interceptor = 10 to 14 months
- Garbage packer = up to 24 months
- Fire apparatus and medic units = 24 to 36 months
"I think that the more dollars we can allocate up front, it will allow us to get caught up and then get on a steady, routine replacement going forward in future years," Norton said.
Easier said than done, especially this year — it's the first budget in five years that doesn't have federal stimulus funding to fill a deficit, which means cuts to nearly every department.
Cramerding says although the budget is tight, he's looking at several possibilities, including pulling from the annual carryover budget closer to the end of the year. Council already has tapped that source for fleet, approving close to a million dollars from last year's carryover to purchase three new snowplows.
And Cramerding points to other areas of the proposed budget that will benefit fleet, including money to upgrade snowplows and $4 million to renovate the fleet services garage, using some of the revenue from the sale of the Cincinnati Southern Railway.
Speaking of the railway revenue, that's not a possible source for fleet replacement.
"The railroad money can only be used for existing infrastructure ... a permanent improvement or an asset to the city," Cramerding said. "Vehicles have a comparatively short timeline, so they have always been in the operating budget."
What's next for the city budget
City Council currently is deliberating changes to the budget draft proposed by City Manager Sheryl Long (plus Mayor Aftab Pureval's suggestions).
Most additions to the budget will require cutting elsewhere, although there is almost $1.8 million still unallocated. All nine City Council members will have ideas about how to spend it.
A final public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, June 3 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.
Cramerding says he expects to finalize the budget by June 18, ahead of the final deadline of June 30. Fiscal year 2026 begins July 1.
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