Sandy Springs Fire Rescue could receive $2.9 million in new apparatus if the City Council approves the allocation at its 6 p.m. meeting Tuesday, Aug. 18.
The funding would continue the city's apparatus replacement program, adopted in 2018 to systematically upgrade the department's aging fleet. Financing would come through PNC Equipment Finance at a rate of 4.81% over six years, according to Appen Media.
The money is already budgeted. The city's FY2027 budget, adopted June 16, includes $1.497 million in annual debt service for fire apparatus and equipment, up $534,468 from the prior year.
What exactly will the money buy? The city has not publicly identified which specific vehicles or equipment the $2.9 million would purchase. The last major buy under the same program was a $1.1 million pumper truck the council approved in August 2024. Two additional engines were delivered in June 2025.
Bigger picture
The equipment vote comes as Sandy Springs invests heavily in its fire infrastructure. The city issued $50.5 million in debt last summer to rebuild Fire Station 1 on Spalding Drive, renovate Fire Station 3 and build a new Fire Station 4 at 5275 Roswell Road. Construction on all three stations is scheduled to begin this fall, with completion expected by December 2027.
The Fire Department's total FY2027 budget is $22.4 million. Combined with the Police Department's $34.6 million, public safety accounts for roughly $57 million, about one-third of the city's $170.4 million general fund.
Interim Fire Chief Jesse Bernard, who took over the department May 21 after former chief Keith Sanders was promoted to assistant city manager, oversees a department in the middle of its largest capital expansion in years. Bernard joined Sandy Springs Fire in 2015 and is in his 25th year of fire service.
What's next
The council meeting takes place at Sandy Springs City Hall, 1 Galambos Way, in the studio theater. Residents can watch the livestream at sandyspringsga.gov/stream.
The fire equipment allocation is one of several items on the agenda, alongside a $4 million-plus incentive package for a Roswell Road redevelopment and additional federal funding for the PATH 400 trail extension. The vote outcome had not been confirmed as of publication.
