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City OKs loan for self-contained breathing equipment for fire department
McCOOK, Neb. — The City of McCook will borrow money from a local bank to pay for firefighting equipment.
As with the rest of the consent agenda items slated for Monday night’s meeting, the McCook City Council approved without discussion a seven-year loan with Horizon Bank at 3.99 percent interest, to purchase 20 self-contained breathing apparatus. The equipment is used by rescue workers to provide breathable air in firefighting situations.
The City Council approved in the 2017-18 budget a down payment of $15,000 on the equipment, With that amount applied to the cost of the equipment, at $142,451 from Sandry Fire Supply, a total amount of the loan is $127,451.
According to staff reports in the agenda, city staff contacted several local banks for financing the loan, with Horizon Bank offering the best terms. The annual payment is $21,226.72, with the first payment due Nov. 1, 2018. After seven years of annual payments, the total amount the city will pay is $148,587.0, that is $21,136 more than the original amount of $127,451.
City Manager Nate Schneider said today that financing the equipment was cheaper than a lease-purchase. Schneider added that the Nebraska Legislature approved in recent years the ability of cities to use financing to buy capital expenditures.
The meeting started off Monday night with the city receiving $40,405.81 as a safety dividend refund from EMC Insurance Company. Denise Broomfield, an agent of MNB Insurance Services, told the council the dividend represented three years of containing losses and was one of the largest awarded in recent years. EMC is the city’s insurance provider for city equipment and facilities throughout the city, with the city receiving insurance dividend refunds from EMC Insurance in the past. The dividend will be applied toward the reduction of current insurance costs.
Two regular agenda items for the council Monday night were an ordinance to continue the implementation of the city sales tax and to set a date for the next town hall meeting.
The 1.5 percent city sales tax was scheduled to end October 2018, as approved by voters in 2007. In the 2015 special election, voters approved extending the city sales tax for 15 years. In 2016, voters also approved continuing LB840, with fifty percent of the .5 city sales tax to go to the McCook Economic Development Corp.
The council approved the city sales tax ordinance on its first reading Monday night, suspending the usual three-reading rule. Councilman Gene Weedin clarified this was not a new tax, just the continuation of the current one.
The council also decided on Thursday, May 10, 6:30 p.m. for the next town hall meeting. This will be the second town hall meeting for public input on ongoing, delayed and future capital improvement projects. The council and city staff are asking for citizen’s opinions so projects/equipment can be prioritized and incorporated into the 2018-19 city budget.