FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – The Township Committee is working through the Monmouth County Improvement Authority (MCIA) to lease equipment for use in Freehold Township.
On Sept. 12, committee members adopted an ordinance authorizing the leasing of $1.417 million in capital equipment.
The equipment to be leased is:
- Single-axle dump trucks with an estimated cost of $600,000, a useful life of five years and a lease term of five years;
- Pickup trucks with an estimated cost of $450,000, a useful life of five years and a lease term of five years;
- Tractors with an estimated cost of $165,000, a useful life of 15 years and a lease term of 10 years;
- A passenger shuttle bus with an estimated cost of $80,000, a useful life of five years and a lease term of five years;
- Leaf machines with an estimated cost of $60,000, a useful life of 15 years and a lease term of 10 years;
- Signal sign boards with an estimated cost of $50,000, a useful life of 10 years and a lease term of 10 years;
- A trailer with an estimated cost of $12,000, a useful life of 15 years and a lease term of 10 years.
According to the ordinance, the lease payment will be partially based on the amount of bonds issued by the county to finance the acquisition of the leased equipment and the maximum amount of bonds the county will issue to finance the township’s acquisition will not exceed $1.5 million. The lease terms of each item of equipment will not exceed the item’s useful life.
The Monmouth County website states that the Board of Freeholders created the MCIA in 1986 “as a conduit to cost-saving alternatives to the traditional methods of public capital finance for municipalities, boards of education, local and regional utility authorities and other local and county government entities.
“The freeholders’ goal was to create an organization that would assist the various government and educational entities in implementing their decisions in a streamlined and cost-efficient manner.”
The MCIA’s focus is on finding alternatives to traditional methods of public finance. The MCIA has surpassed the $1 billion mark in financing the capital needs of municipalities, county government entities and school districts, as well as local and regional utility authorities, according to the website.
