No, it’s not a Florida-Georgia Line lyric, Tallahassee taxpayers actually shelled out nearly $100,000 – perhaps more – for a luxury vehicle for the TPD Police Chief. Here’s the kicker – a no-limit contract means the City could have spent more
By Skip Foster, Red Tape Florida
As the City of Tallahassee prepares for higher property tax bills, offers employee buyouts and weighs budget cuts, records obtained by Red Tape Florida show taxpayers have spent at least $98,751 to purchase and equip the Police Chief’s take-home truck.
Chief Lawrence Revell now drives a ruby red 2025 Ford F-350 King Ranch 4×4, fully loaded with a four-inch lift kit, 20-inch aluminum wheels, a spray-in bed liner, power running boards, and, of course, police lighting. It was paid for by the City of Tallahassee as a part of his contract.
Before receiving the King Ranch, the City had purchased Revell a 2024 Ford F-150. On July 18, 2025, it traded that truck to Tallahassee Ford for a $44,500 credit toward the purchase of the King Ranch, contributing an additional $52,114.43 in taxpayer funds to complete the transaction. It then spent another $2,136.90 outfitting the truck with police radios and emergency lighting.
The documented taxpayer investment before the truck entered service: at least $98,751.33 (it is not yet known what the City paid for the 2024 vehicle, although it surely depreciated in the time since it was purchased).
What makes that expenditure particularly noteworthy is that there was no contractual ceiling preventing the City from spending even more.
Under the terms of Revell’s employment contract, the City is responsible for paying the purchase price, maintenance, repair and regular replacement of his vehicle. The agreement places no limit on the vehicle’s cost, no restriction on its make or model, no limitation on its class and requires no City Commission approval before it is purchased.
The only approval required is from City Manager Reese Goad, who has the same provision in his own contract. The City has not yet provided information on what Goad is driving or how much it costs.
The same contract also allows Revell to purchase the vehicle from the City at book value when his employment ends.
The Paper Trail
A City purchase order dated July 9, 2025, authorized payment of $52,114.43 to Tallahassee Auto Investors LLC, the parent company of Tallahassee Ford, for a 2025 Ford F-350 King Ranch 4×4. The purchase order notes that the price included a $44,500 trade allowance for Revell’s 2024 Ford F-150.
The accompanying dealer invoice describes the truck as a King Ranch equipped with a number of features typical in police vehicle, such as a powerful diesel engine.
The sales representative identified on both the quote and invoice is Shawn Revell. Red Tape Florida has not determined if Shawn Revell is related to Chief Lawrence Revell.
The truck was later sent to Dana Safety Supply, where police radios, emergency lighting and related equipment were installed before it entered service.
The Contract
Section 6 of Revell’s employment agreement reads:
“The Employee shall have the exclusive and unrestricted use, at all times during his employment with the City, of an automobile provided him by the City. The City shall be responsible for paying the purchase price, operation, maintenance, repair, and regular replacement of said automobile.”
No dollar cap.
No restriction on vehicle type.
No requirement for Commission approval.
No requirement that replacement occurs only after a specified number of years or miles.
The contract gives the City Manager broad discretion over what taxpayers may ultimately purchase.
The City Manager Had the Same Benefit
Revell’s contract was signed by then-City Manager Reese Goad.
Goad’s own employment agreement contains nearly identical language providing him a City vehicle, likewise with no stated maximum value or vehicle classification.
The City has not yet produced records showing what vehicle Goad drives or how much taxpayers spent on it.
What the Policies Say
The City’s Fleet Management Policy establishes procedures for take-home vehicles, maintenance and replacement, but does not establish a maximum value for executive vehicles provided under employment contracts.
Administrative Policy 803 addresses only the IRS treatment of take-home vehicles as a taxable fringe benefit.
TPD’s vehicle assignment policy likewise governs operational use but does not address the Police Chief’s contract or establish any spending limits.
Meanwhile, City Procurement Policy 242 allows purchases of up to $250,000 to be approved administratively without City Commission approval.
None of those policies answer the larger governance question:
Who decided taxpayers should provide the Police Chief with a nearly $100,000 take-home truck — and who decides what the next one costs?
What the Standard Looks Like
Florida city managers have another option.
The Florida City and County Management Association publishes a model employment agreement for local governments across the state. Rather than providing an open-ended City-owned vehicle, the model recommends a fixed monthly allowance.
Its language reads:
“Vehicle Allowance. Manager to receive $______ per month for expenses, including maintenance, repairs, gasoline, and insurance associated with his use of his/her own vehicle within the City/County (and, in lieu of mileage expenses, within the State of Florida).”
Under that approach, the governing board sets the monthly amount as part of the employment agreement. The executive owns the vehicle, is responsible for replacing it, and bears the cost if he or she chooses something pricier than the allowance covers.
Tallahassee took a different approach. Revell’s contract requires the City to purchase, maintain, repair and regularly replace his vehicle, with no maximum value or class specified.
What’s Still Missing
Two of Tallahassee’s most senior officials — one of them now retiring — held contracts that let the City buy them a vehicle for any price, any class, replaced on any schedule the City Manager chose, with no Commission vote required at any point in the process.
Records on how many other City vehicles work the same way are still outstanding.
The two questions for Tallahassee taxpayers are this: is almost $100,000 too much for one truck for one city official and should there be a cap on what can be spent for that and other city brass?
For now, what’s documented is this — taxpayers paid for a Police Chief’s truck, and nothing in his contract would have stopped that number from being higher.