Willacy County commissioners approve 60-month lease for four sheriff investigator vehicles; ratify grants and routine measures

Willacy County Commissioners Court on Tuesday approved entering a master commercial lease with D & M Commercial Leasing to obtain four 4x4 pickup trucks for the sheriff's investigators, authorizing the county to draw payments from Capital Fund No. 2 and amending the motion to specify a 60-month term.

The County Judge said investigators were driving vehicles that were "10 years older or older," and framed the lease as a way to cycle vehicles more frequently, capture resale equity and track maintenance through a fleet-management program. Jennifer Garcia, regional vice president for D & M Leasing, described the company's government leasing program, saying the trucks available were new models (zero miles) priced at about $39,000 each and that upfitting estimates were lower than a sample quote; she also said the firm offers optional fleet-management software at about $7.50 per vehicle per month.

Why it matters: leasing would let the sheriff's office keep newer vehicles in service, shift some maintenance tracking to a vendor platform and potentially recover equity through resale auctions at term…