OCALA, FL (352Today.com) – On October 20, 2026, the Ocala City Council approved an additional $190,936 for four fire apparatus units for Ocala Fire Rescue ordered in late 2024 from Matheny Motor Truck Co., after the city missed a prepayment discount because of a miscommunication. Fleet and Facilities Director for the city of Ocala, John King, described the miscommunication as his own oversight.
King told the council the original November 2024 authorization of $1,960,044 for three E-ONE light rescue vehicles on Ford F-550 chassis and one E-ONE Typhoon rescue pumper already reflected optional prepayment discounts totaling $190,936 ($111,621 on the rescues and $79,315 on the pumper). Full list prices without the discount were $1,257,459 and $893,521, respectively. Orders went out on December 10, 2024, and prepayment invoices followed in February and June 2025, but they went unpaid.
King said that after the 2024 council vote, he and finance staff discussed the risks of front-loading millions of dollars to a vendor before delivery. Topics included whether the discount exceeded interest the city would earn by holding the funds, the lack of a performance bond in the Matheny proposal, liquidated damages, milestone protections, and potential rebates if delivery lagged. He said he shared those concerns with staff and understood a financial and contractual analysis should precede prepayments. Instead, he said, he “misapplied” that guidance retroactively to the purchase already in the queue rather than limiting it to future deals. “It’s totally my oversight,” King said. “It is in no way, shape, or form indicative of our leadership of our city manager.”
Earlier in the same meeting, Councilman Jim Hilty said two agenda items illustrated what he viewed as City Manager Pete Lee’s lack of strong leadership and transparency with the council and staff. Agenda item 10b, regarding this expenditure to make up for the missed prepayment discount, was one of those items.
The vehicles arrived in August 2026, roughly six months ahead of the projected 810-day timeline. Final invoices lacked the prepayment reductions, leaving the city owing the additional $190,936. King told the council the outcome “does not put the city at risk,” explaining that “by retaining the $2.07 million, the city has earned more than $135,000 in interest.” Combined with the $56,000 in credits from Matheny on five other Ocala Fire Rescue vehicles planned for fiscal 2027, he said those benefits “exceeded the $190,936 that we forfeited in prepayment.” King added that, as of the meeting, “we stand to gain $127.” No budget amendment was required; the FY 2025-26 budget already set aside $2,070,000 for the apparatus.
Councilman Jim Hilty pressed on the $56,000 credit, asking whether the city would lose it if it later bought from a different vendor rather than through the existing Sourcewell/Florida Sheriffs Association contract with Matheny/E-ONE. King said portions of the credit apply to vehicles already purchased and to the next Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) package he expects to bring forward. Hilty called the arrangement “a little hocus pocus.”
Hilty also questioned transparency and the timing of disclosures. He cited an Oct. 14 email about trucks loaded for delivery around Oct. 2 that had to be unloaded and retrieved because they lacked the Manufacturer’s Statement of Origin (MSO) and title paperwork. “Why are we just finding out about it now?” Hilty asked. “Where is the transparency from your office to us when there’s a problem like this? This is not a minor problem. This is a major problem that’s happening. Same thing with the scam. We didn’t find out.” He said a prior conversation with Lee had described the prepayment issue as involving lower-level staff who “weren’t really accountants,” yet King was now taking sole responsibility. Hilty added that “things just keep coming and coming at every meeting” and that problems are not always reported “in a timely manner.”
Lee defended himself bluntly.
“I never made up a story,” Lee told Hilty.
Lee continued to say that the information available to him the day before came from staff indicating the matter landed on a desk belonging to someone who works for King, and that he seeks to fix problems before briefing the council. “John does not have to fall on a sword for me,” Lee said. “I’m the one who ultimately lands on my feet. I take full responsibility.” He noted that Matheny has been cooperative, that the company has changed ownership, and that the city has a billion-dollar budget in which mistakes occur. Another council member echoed that mistakes are inevitable in a large organization and that the relevant question is how staff respond.
Councilwoman Kristen Dreyer addressed the public fallout, observing that once the media report an agenda item, “people share it all around the internet and get other people all riled up.” She said the explanation of the cost-analysis decision made sense but that the item should have been more fully vetted before reaching the agenda, and she called for clearer written procedures and checklists so process failures such as accepting a vehicle without the Manufacturer’s Statement of Origin (MSO) are less likely as staff turns over. King explained that E-ONE delivered the vehicles without the MSO, operations staff prepared them for the street, and he ordered them retrieved once he learned of the gap; he said the proper title process is clear and that this had not occurred in his prior experience.
The vote to approve the additional expenditure passed unanimously.