Committee recommends council approve lease-purchase to reimburse hospitality tax for fire trucks

Town staff asked the Finance & Administrative Committee on April 20 to recommend that the full town council approve a tax-exempt lease-purchase agreement to finance fire-truck acquisitions and reimburse prior hospitality-tax expenditures.

Adriana Burnett presented background noting that council previously approved a multi-unit fire apparatus purchase; production and delivery delays left the town with eight delivered pumpers and two still in production. Burnett said the town has already paid roughly $5.1 million from the hospitality-tax fund for initial purchases and expects total lease financing not to exceed $8 million so the hospitality-tax fund can be reimbursed.

Staff said the proposed tax-exempt equipment lease aligns lease payments with the trucks' anticipated 10-year life and would not count against the town's 8% general-obligation bond capacity. The lease would include a non-appropriation clause and would not pledge the full faith and credit of the town; staff said annual appropriations for lease payments would be requested each fiscal year.

Committee members asked where lease payments will be sourced; staff confirmed payments would come from the hospitality-tax fund, not property-tax revenue. Bond counsel and town counsel made procedural comments and staff outlined a procurement schedule: first reading and initial council action in May, a request-for-proposals for lenders in mid-May, second reading later in May, and a target closing date in late June so the reimbursement can be completed in FY25.

On a motion to recommend approval, the committee voted to forward the ordinance to full council.