Staffing cuts at the Rome Water and Sewer Department means some heavy equipment is sitting idle, so Director Leigh Ross received permission to sell it on the internet auction site GovDeals.com.

“We’ll use the money to start replacing some of our pick-ups with more than 100,000 miles,” Ross told members of the city’s water

and sewer committee Tuesday. “We’ll get smaller ones with better gas mileage, so there will be some savings there too.”

Belt-tightening during the past few years has led to the elimination of 13

positions in the department’s construction and service division, equal to three full crews. The downsizing was done through attrition, not layoffs.

Ross said it’s been a year since the crews’ three service trucks, three backhoes, three dump trucks and three transport trailers were used. Selling two of each will cut insurance and maintenance costs and still leave the department with emergency backup equipment.

Rome routinely offers surplus equipment on the government auction website. Officials say the sale price is usually higher than an onsite auction would bring because of the wider audience.

Public Works Director Jamie McCord said his department recently got $5,000 for a 40-year-old backhoe the buyer said he was shipping to Dubai.