City council authorizes mayor to finalize fire-truck lease purchase agreement

Newport — The Newport City Council voted Sept. 15 to authorize the mayor to execute a lease‑purchase agreement that would finance the city’s new fire truck, with the mayor and staff saying final documents will be signed only after the city attorney’s review and the procurement of appropriate insurance.

Mayor Rick Ufford Chase told the council the truck is being held by the seller until the city finalizes a lease arrangement. He said the proposal offered two payment schedules and that staff requested starting payments in December to avoid short‑term cash‑flow strain while taking advantage of lower long‑term interest costs. “We were given 2 options of the proposal. 1 would be to make an immediate payment, and that would basically save nearly $50,000 in interest, or another option to wait a year to make the first payment,” he said.

Chip Stearns, the city’s financial consultant, told the council the annual payment in the chosen schedule will be “just under 108,000 for an annual payment for December 1.” Staff said the current fiscal year’s budget assumed about $67,000 in payments; taking the truck now will increase the current‑year cash need to roughly $97,000, which staff said can be absorbed without increasing the tax or spending budget.

Council authorization and safeguards: the council approved a motion that authorizes the mayor to negotiate, execute and deliver a lease‑purchase agreement between the city and Municipal Leasing Consultants (MLC), including a property schedule for the new fire truck and related documents “subject to the review of the city attorney and approval of the mayor,” and authorizes the city to perform obligations under the lease. The mayor reiterated he would not sign any final documents without the city attorney’s approval and that the truck will not be taken into custody until insurance is in place.

Finance and logistics: staff said the seller agreed to hold the truck until the city completes the final arrangement and that the first contractual payment is scheduled for Dec. 1. Council members asked whether the payment schedule had been built into the current year’s budget and were told last year’s budget assumed partial‑year payments; the actual cash needed this year will be higher, but staff expects to reallocate within existing lines to cover the additional amount.

What to watch: city staff will return the final lease documents for the city attorney’s review and the mayor’s signature once counsel signs off, and the council said it will be kept informed about delivery and insurance arrangements.