GLENVIEW, IL – Village of Glenview, Ill., officials have uncovered millions of dollars in revenues through a study of the village’s fleet replacement practices, according to the Pioneer Press newspaper. Revamping the way the village maintains, repairs, and replaces its fire trucks, police cars, snow plows, and other vehicles was part of an overhaul of Glenview’s financial practices that Village Manager Todd Hileman initiated last year. A North Carolina consultant hired to assess Glenview’s fleet services concluded that the vehicle and equipment replacement fund should have an annual balance of no more than $1.5 million. Glenview’s fund, which since 1980 has drawn revenues from various village department budgets annually, had a balance of almost $10 million at the end of 2005, according to the Pioneer Press report. The Village Board agreed to draw $4.4 million of that balance to pay for major repairs like new roofs on village-owned buildings this year. At the consultant’s suggestion, trustees will draw an additional $3.3 million from the fund for one-time expenses next year. How it will be spent is to be determined during discussions of the 2007 budget, according to the Pioneer Press. Public Works Director Bill Porter recommended two ambulances be replaced in 2007, two and four years earlier than originally scheduled, and that all ambulances be replaced every eight years, rather than every 12 years, which has been the practice. When evaluated utilizing planning software, the village’s ambulances scored poorly when it came to reliability and availability. The software, which the consultant recommended Glenview obtain, is used to project when vehicles should be replaced. According to the report, the consultant also looked at the in-house repair facility at the village. It concluded that the operation hasn’t recovered its operating costs from the payments assessed village departments in the past few years. The consultant recommended hiring a parts manager, switching to a lower octane fuel, improving village mechanics’ productivity, tracking inventory and parts purchases, and developing better internal controls. Also, new manuals now document the village’s traditional purchasing procedures and employee responsibilities, as well as debt management and investments.