Clayton County approves purchase of six fire pumpers, debates financing amid fast deadline
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Summary
The Board authorized a cooperative purchase of six large fire pumpers from a cooperative dealer and discussed whether to use $1 million in budgeted cash for one truck and finance the remaining five or finance all six; staff warned signing before Nov. 6 would avoid a price increase.
Clayton County commissioners voted Nov. 4 to approve a cooperative purchase of six fire pumpers, a move county staff said would preserve fleet uniformity and avoid an imminent price increase.
Chief Keith Sweat, who oversees the county’s fire apparatus, told the board a standard pumper carries about 750 gallons of water and can pump up to 2,000 gallons a minute. He said the department budget includes roughly $1 million in the FY26 capital lease payment account that could be used to buy one pumper outright while financing the remaining five.
"My recommendation is to use my current million dollars in this current adopted budget and buy one truck and finance the remaining five," Chief Sweat said, arguing that approach would keep annual payments within historical thresholds for the dedicated fire fund.
County financial adviser Mr. Walls told the board the vendor’s contract includes a price-adjustment window and that signing before Nov. 6 would avoid a roughly 1% increase—about $50,000 on the total purchase. He presented competing financing quotes: Truist at roughly 3.88% and another quote from PNC at about 3.82%, noting PNC’s term included prepayment restrictions that could complicate future refinancing.
"If you buy them tonight, you'll avoid that $50,000 increase," Mr. Walls said, and he outlined the tradeoffs between financing all six vehicles or using cash for one and financing five.
Purchasing staff said the recommended cooperative dealer is 10 8 Fire and Safety LLC. The presentation listed one pump available for immediate cash purchase at $889,000 and five additional units reflected in a lease-purchase amount of $4,221,000; procurement materials and vendor proposals were attached to the board packet.
After extended discussion about timing, specs and long-term debt exposure, the board approved the cooperative purchase (CP-25-119) of six pumpers with trade-ins by voice vote. The procurement motion did not include final selection of the lease financier; staff were directed to return with financing options and legal terms.
The vote: motion carried on a voice vote ('the ayes have it'). The board’s approval obligates the county to sign the purchase documents within the vendor’s contract deadlines while staff completes the financing paperwork.
Next steps include finalizing lease documents, returning to the board with financing recommendations and scheduling delivery and trade-in logistics.
