NEWBURGH – Two of Newburgh’s fire trucks are shot and as the city conducts 2020 budget preparation, officials will consider leasing new ones instead of buying them.
A new ladder truck comes with a $1 million price tag and a new engine truck costs about $650,000. That’s money the city does not have.
Acting Fire Chief Terry Ahlers said the city vehicles have outlasted their useful lives.
“By the time we get of them, they are junk, they are scrap,” Ahlers said. “They are not suitable for service anywhere so if we can turn them over and get rid of them while they are still under warranty, initially you might have a higher payment but in the long run you will pay less. You will have less maintenance and for the same as buying a fire truck outright, you might turn that fire truck over three times and not have the caliber of repairs that we are putting into them now.”
At a budget workshop Monday night, lawmakers also discussed the continued high cost of overtime in both the fire and police departments, and the need to replace the public safety building and repair and upgrade the west end firehouse.
