WAUPUN — The Waupun City Council approved the purchase of two new police vehicles at the Common Council meeting on February 10, 2026.
This comes after the purchases were tabled from the previous meeting to allow for a rebid from the vendors, held January 27, 2026.
Mayor Bishop introduced the item by reiterating that they had received updated quotes from Homan Auto, which put it within a few hundred dollars to the original Holiday Automotive quote. The City also received an update quote from Napleton and a new quote from Summit Automotive, both of which were above the Homan Auto quotes.
A list of all quotes and associated documents were included in the meeting agenda packet.
Quotes for the 2026 Police Interceptor Utility:
Napleton
SUV Original Quote SUV Updated Quote
$45,485.50 $45,280
Holiday
SUV Original Quote SUV Updated Quote
$45,007 No changes
Homan
SUV Original Quote SUV Updated Quote
$47,119.50 $45,193.50
Summit – At request of Alderman Kaczmarski
SUV Quote
$45,325 + registration
Quotes for the 2026 F-150 Police Responder 4×4:
Napleton
Truck Original Quote Truck Updated Quote
$47,706.50 $47,500
Holiday
Truck Original Quote Truck Updated Quote
$46,690 No changes
Homan
Truck Original Quote Truck Updated Quote
$48,289.50 $46,839.50
Summit – At request of Alderman Kaczmarski
Truck Quote
$47,005 + registration
Motion Alderman Mike Matoushek, second Alderwoman Bobbi Jo Kunz to approve the updated Homans quotes for both vehicles.
When making the motion, Alderman Matoushek said, “Considering the altogether value, for buying local and not being off by that much, is why I’m making the motion to purchase through Homans.”
The floor was then opened up for comments from the Council.
“I just have concerns that since this has been revisited that we are ultimately going down a slippery slope that we are going to tick off other vendors that want to participate in the process,” said Alderman Pete Kaczmarski. “And soon we will have no one that is going to offer us quotes.”
Mayor Bishop thanked Alderman Kaczmarski for his concerns, saying, “My concern is the absolute opposite. The local car dealership is getting sick and tired of getting dragged through the mud in the news media every time we buy a car. So I think it’s more likely that within a year or two we’re going to lose the local bid.”
“They don’t make anything on it, they’re off a hundred bucks, and largely because of you [Kaczmarski], they get dragged through the news media,” Mayor Bishop said.
Both motions passed 5-1, with Alderman Kaczmarski dissenting.
Following the meeting, Alderman Kaczmarski elaborated on his concerns in a statement to Waupun Pioneer News.
“I’ve seen who’s been contacted in the past, even Jeff [Daane] has been having trouble getting vendors to participate in the bid process, and I don’t want to give them another reason not to participate,” Kaczmarski said. “But I believe especially after we revisited this topic since our last meeting and gave everyone an opportunity to look at their numbers—and some came back lower—but Homan Auto was still not the lowest. And the first time the quote was almost $4,000 higher than the lowest.”
In regards to the Mayor’s statement about Homan Auto potentially no longer providing quotes if they have to keep defending them, Kaczmarski said, “I’m sure that’s always possible [that Homan Auto stops providing quotes], but their comments have been that they have commitment to the community and I’m sure they do not want to turn away any business either.”
“That’s why we have a policy stating the procedure to be followed for what is to be considered and what isn’t to be considered, which is very broad and open ended,” he said.
The difference between the the original combined quotes from Homan Auto and from Holiday Automotive was $3,712. After the requote, the difference was only $336—a significant drop in price, and a small percentage of the over $90,000 combined price tag.
As for whether other businesses might stop offering quotes, Mayor Bishop said it’s possible, but he’s more concerned about Homan Auto stopping their own support.
“He’s not wrong that it could happen, but on the other hand that’s the exact reason that Homan Auto has stopped sending bids to Beaver Dam and Fond du Lac,” Mayor Bishop said. “They could bid on it, but they’re going through their local dealers. Holiday Automotive is a great car dealership—Fond du Lac should buy all their cars from Holiday—but for the same reason we should buy from Homans.”
Mayor Bishop also reiterated that the cost saving of not having to send a city employee or two to another city to drop off and pick up the vehicles for warranty work is well worth the extra few hundred dollars to a local business. Even though the vehicles are being procured through Homan Auto in Ripon, they offer free delivery between shops for the City if dropped off at one of the Waupun locations.
“When we have the open bidding process, we can see what the prices are,” he said. “And we purposely made the purchasing policy vague for this reason. Future mayors and aldermen may disagree and argue what that is, but it’s no different than when you go car shopping, you’re going to buy the best value from the local shop. If it was a $5,000 difference we would have had a good discussion, but it wasn’t.”
“We just shouldn’t be ripping on businesses that are local and do so much for our community,” Mayor Bishop said. “They make more selling one car to you or me than selling two cars to the City of Waupun, and that’s just the reality of it. And Homans should be frustrated because every time we do this it’s in the news—they don’t need that headache.”
“They do so much for our business community—they sponsor our youth sports programs and REACH Waupun—and we should celebrate that,” he said.
