Cost of fixing flats on Memphis city vehicles has ballooned

It used to be when a Memphis city vehicle had a flat tire, a city employee was dispatched to fix it.

That's changed.

And so has the cost of keeping the city's fleet of 5,800 vehicles on the road.

In 2003, a mom and pop tire company -- Around Town Tire & Trucking -- bested two others to win the exclusive right to repair the city's flats.

In the six years since that contract was awarded, the firm has billed Memphis taxpayers $2.6 million for 33,000 tire repairs. Costs have ballooned from $100,000 in 2005 to more than $1 million last year -- far in excess of the contract's estimated annual maximum cost.