Tacoma City Council unanimously approved a purchase resolution Tuesday that will advance an effort under way to replace many of the city’s aged and outdated fleet of police vehicles.

On Jan. 25, City Council approved a purchase resolution to acquire 46 new Ford Crown Victoria Interceptors for the Tacoma Police Department. The vehicles are expected to arrive in Tacoma this month.

The purchase resolution approved this week directs $352,519.16 (plus tax) from the City’s Equipment Rental Capital Outlay Fund toward outfitting the new vehicles with police lighting packages, gun racks, radio consoles, prisoner seats, and other unique police equipment not provided by the automobile manufacturer, according to Richard E. McKinley, Tacoma’s director of public works. The contract was awarded to Auto Additions, Inc., of Lacey, Wash.

Bidding on the contract opened on April 19 and drew the interests of five companies: Auto Additions, Inc. (Lacey) — $352,519.16; American Upfitting (Puyallup) — $357,978.90; Financial Consultants, Inc. (North Bend) — $363,032; Systems for Public Safety, Inc. (Lakewood) — $373,640.52; Cascade Networks (Longview) — $402,730. The pre-bid estimate was $375,000.

“Fleet Services will typically perform outfitting for smaller orders, but due to the large number of vehicles associated with this contract, it is necessary to utilize an outside contract for the installation in a timely manner,” noted McKinley. “This enhances the service delivery to our customer and puts police vehicles on the streets quicker.”