La Paz County set to borrow $1.1 million for vehicles, sewer infrastructure

A proposal to finance $1.132 million for new Sheriff’s Department patrol vehicles and new wastewater infrastructure north of Parker was heard by the La Paz County Board of Supervisors Monday.

$530,000 of the plan would allow the County to purchase 10 new patrol vehicles for the Sheriff’s Department, replacing old vehicles which have 130k or even 200k miles on them. County Administrator Dan Field said the purchases would cover the Department’s vehicle needs for the next 2 years.

The other $602,000 would cover a County share of the Buckskin Sanitary District’s wastewater and sewer operations along Riverside Drive north of Parker, including allowing La Paz County Park and the Pirate’s Den lease to hook up to the sewage system. Field explained that $6.8 million had already been secured by Buckskin from other sources, including a grant and a loan, and that this would be the County’s share.

In Monday’s public hearing, the Board of Supervisors heard that there are historically low interest rates, making this a good time to buy financing. It also heard that the County does not have a lot of this kind of debt, comparatively speaking, making its finances in a good position to incur this obligation.

The financing for the vehicles would be paid off in around 5 years, not much longer than the useful life of the vehicles, while the sewer infrastructure would be financed through 2025. Field clarified that the financing would be secured using the County’s excise tax, but that didn’t mean the County was locked into using excise taxes to pay its premiums.

If approved by the Board of Supervisors, the plan would go into effect and money received by next month, after bids by financial institutions interested in providing the capital. The County has received no comments from the public in writing or at the hearing, for or against.