In order to control operational costs and maintain an economical size of the City's vehicle fleet and equipment inventory, items that are worn out and have served their useful life due to high mileage, high maintenance costs, obsolete part availability, and other factors determined by the Fleet Maintenance Supervisor, a list is compiled for Council to review and declare the items surplus equipment to allow staff to auction off the identified items.
As Council may recall, in September 2015 the City's Public Works Department held a vehicle and equipment auction using The Public Group, LLC. AKA Public Surplus online services. The only cost to the City was for the cost to place an ad in a major newspaper notifying the general public of the online auction. Once an item was sold the buyer had to pay an auction fee of seven percent (7%) of the purchase price. The City collected all of the funds and distributed the seven percent (7%) to Public Surplus as part of the auction agreement. Minimum purchase prices for the vehicles were identified by the City's Fleet Maintenance Supervisor using the Whole Sellers Buyers Guide or Black Book. All vehicles sold online exceeded the minimum set bid making this type of auction more successful than the Tampa Bay Auction the City utilized for over twenty years. Subsequent to staff review, it has been determined The Public Group, LLC. auction terms and conditions have not changed and remain the same as the previous agreement with the City.