The City of Springfield wants to purchase 40 new police cars, a new fire engine, a street sweeper and a bevy of public works tools.
The city’s looking to take out a low interest loan to cover the $3.15 million price tag. Budget Director Bill McCarty said payments for this loan will start next fiscal year, once an existing loan is paid off.
“We’re not talking about adding any new spending per se,” McCarty said. “We’re talking about supplanting some of the existing loan payments that are going on right now.”
Payments for this loan would be $475,000 a year, McCarty says the expiring loan costs $650,000 a year.
McCarty said some of the department’s police cars boast well over 200,000 miles and are 13 years old — this purchase would put the oldest in the fleet at 2006.
But some on the city council, including Ward 7 Alderman Joe McMenamin, want to wait until at least March to commit to the purchases, given the dire financial situation at City Water Light and Power.
“It seems to me that we should be delaying this kind of spending until at least Feb. 28 to see where we’re at with the electric budget and the debt coverage ratio,” McMenamin said. “I’m surprised to see this increased spending taking place.”
The full council will debate the measure at its full meeting on Sept. 16.