Tabatha Miller is the Director of Fleet Management for the City of Fishers and when she presents vehicle purchases before the Board of Public Works & Safety, it is normally a routine agenda item.  That was not the case last Tuesday.

When Ms. Miller presented a purchase of three Chevrolet 2500HD Trucks for the Department of Public Works, each cost $38,129.01.

Mayor Scott Fadness asked about the significant increase in price for these vehicles, Miler responded that the increase is $13,000 over a vehicle she had bought for the city a week ago.  “All municipal discounts are almost gone,” Miller added.  “Next year is going to be ugly.”

The city had two motors die on vehicles recently and Miller said it took 9-12 weeks to receive the motors due to supply chain issues with parts.

Even with the increase in pricing, Miller told the board the three vehicles in her request won’t be delivered until late 2022 or early 2023.  “This is a national, world-wide problem,” Miller said.

With that information, Mayor Fadness, who had inquired about delaying the purchase with the hope of lower pricing in the future, said he would “unfortunately” move to approve the purchases, and the board voted unanimously to move forward with buying the three trucks..