Borough Finance Committee Discusses Purchasing New Fire Trucks

The West Chester Borough Finance Committee discussed purchasing two new fire trucks for the fire department during their regular monthly meeting Tuesday night.

The two fire trucks that the borough would replace are around 20 years old, and it could cost as much as $1.6 million to replace them.

“The borough code says that if you want to purchase the trucks you must have the money allocated,” said borough manager Ernie McNeely.  “So if you are going to purchase the trucks the budget needs to be changed.”

The borough has a contract with neighboring townships that use the West Chester Fire Department services that will help alleviate some of the costs.

“Our agreement with the other townships is part of a five-year-plan that says they will pay 48 percent of that cost,” McNeely said.

The rest of the cost will fall on the borough.

A representative from the fire department said that the borough could get a trade-in value for the current trucks, and that similar trucks are on the market for as much as $150,000.

The borough could also pay for the truck through the capital operations fund, or take out a loan or a bond.

“I’m not a fan of using capital funds even if it is to replace something we need,” said council member Susan Bayne.

Council suggested that maybe they wouldn’t replace the trucks, but McNeely said that wouldn’t be possible.

“We can’t take the other townships’ money and not buy new trucks,” McNeely said.

The representative from the fire department suggested that the borough order the trucks as soon as possible in order to save money in 2011.  It is estimated that the cost of the trucks could go up by as much as four percent next year.

Council advised the fire department to look into figuring out a way to maximize the trade-in value for the current trucks.

“These trucks are worth something.  They're specialty pieces,” said the representative from the fire department.  “We just don’t know what yet.”