RE.4 - Approve $150m Vehicle Lease Financing

WHEREAS, the City of Miami (“City”) currently operates an extensively aged fleet of general-purpose vehicles, police vehicles, fire-rescue apparatus, and heavy solid waste equipment; and

WHEREAS, the City has historically procured new vehicles for its fleet principally through direct purchase agreements; and

WHEREAS, this longstanding purchasing practice has become economically unfeasible, resulting in the delayed replacement of vehicles well beyond their intended service life; and

WHEREAS, these delays have resulted in escalating maintenance costs, increased vehicle downtime, and service interruptions, thereby elevating operational costs and impeding service to the public; and

WHEREAS, the City,consistent with municipal best practices, seeks to transition to utilizing lease-purchase agreements to replenish its fleet across all departments; and

WHEREAS, the City Department of Solid Waste (“Miami Solid Waste”) provides garbage and bulky trash collection, disposal, and recycling services for nearly 70,000 residential households annually, in addition to performing daily street sweeping operations; and

WHEREAS, the City Police Department (“Miami Police Department”) and City Department of Fire-Rescue (“Miami Fire-Rescue”) serve nearly half a million residents and millions of visitors each year, placing themselves in harm's way daily to ensure public safety; and

WHEREAS, the Miami Police Department maintains public order and delivers essential public safety services, including crime prevention, emergency response, criminal investigations, and traffic enforcement; and

WHEREAS, Miami Police officers serve as first responders and community partners, providing assistance during critical incidents, natural disasters, and medical emergencies, while building trust through community outreach and sustained collaboration with residents, businesses, and other government agencies; and

WHEREAS, the City has an immediate need to finance and to acquire ambulance vehicles, general light fleet vehicles, general heavy fleet vehicles, motorcycles, sweepers, trailers and automobiles, and related equipment for said vehicles (collectively, "Vehicles") in the current fiscal year estimated at a not-to-exceed total aggregate principal amount of One Hundred Fifty Million Dollars ($150,000,000.00) to be repaid according to the respective useful lives of the Vehicles at five (5), seven (7), ten (10), twelve (12), or fifteen (15) years; and

WHEREAS, on May 13, 2026, the City's Financial Advisor, PFM Financial Advisors LLC ("PFM"), issued a Request for Proposals ("RFP") solicitation process on behalf of the City to the banking and financial industry consistent with the City's needs to obtain a means of financing the lease acquisition of the Vehicles, with the lowest cost for funds based on the current market at the most favorable terms possible for the resulting Master Equipment Lease Purchase Agreement ("Agreement"); and

WHEREAS, PFM's RFP solicitation process resulted in multiple proposal responses from various banking and financial institutions; and

WHEREAS, on June 10, 2026, after review and analysis by the City and PFM of the proposals received, the City's Finance Committee unanimously approved a favorable recommendation of the proposal received from Regions Capital Advantage, Inc. ("Regions") for the vehicle lease/purchase financing program and recommendation; and

WHEREAS, it is recommended that the proposal received from Regions be approved by the City Commission, as this financial institution provided the most favorable terms and overall conditions, with the differentiating factors presented in Region’s proposal including a combination of the bank's lowest interest rates for the draw structure, lack of onerous and non-standard provisions, and most generous pre-payment terms;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA:

Section 1. The recitals and findings contained in the Preamble to this Resolution are adopted by reference and incorporated as if fully set forth in this Section.

Section 2. The selection of the proposal response to the PFM RFP submitted by Regions for the provision of capital financing in a not to exceed total aggregate principal amount of One Hundred Fifty Million and 00/100 Dollars ($150,000,000.00) for the lease/purchase acquisition of the Vehicles and for payment of the financing costs of the same is approved.

Section 3. The City Manager is authorized to negotiate and execute the Agreement, in a form acceptable to the City Attorney, and any and all amendments and documents required by said Agreement, provided that the terms are consistent and in a form acceptable to the City Attorney.

Section 4. The City Manager is further authorized1 to take any and all actions necessary to effectuate said lease/purchase acquisitions, subject to the availability of funds and budgetary approval at the time of need.

Section 5. This Resolution shall become effective immediately upon its adoption and signature of the Mayor.