CCIA, TD Bank Partner to Finance Municipal Equipment
CCIA and TD Bank have partnered to offer an equipment financing program exclusively for Cumberland County municipalities. The Municipal Tax Exempt Leasing Program provides local municipalities access to highly competitive, fixed-rate finance options for their capital equipment needs without going through a Request for Proposal (RFP) process.
The program allows municipalities to fund equipment valued at $100,000 and higher, for terms of 3 to 10 years, dependent on the useful life of the financing collateral as reported by TD Bank officials. The rate for the equipment lease financing made through this new CCIA sponsored program is fixed at closing, removing the risk of rising interest rates to the municipalities, through December 2018.
Because the cooperative leasing program has already been competitively bid and awarded, municipalities can process the financing through the program without preparing a full RFP, thereby saving the usual time and resources to administer such a transaction.
“Municipal equipment financing is an effective and increasingly popular way for local governments to finance needed equipment acquisitions,” Gerard Velazquez, Executive Director of the Cumberland County Improvement Authority said. “We know first-hand that decision makers in the municipal equipment marketplace are looking for more efficient ways to get this work done so that the desired equipment is not only more affordable, but available when needed.”
Municipal equipment financing is an effective and increasingly popular way for local governments.
Joe Harry, Vice President and Regional Manager of TD Equipment Finance, Inc., explains about the program, “Interested municipalities can contact TD Equipment Finance to determine the options available through the program. If the program terms are acceptable, the municipality can then issue a formal award so that the closing arrangements can be finalized with TD Equipment Finance.” Harry said the program covers various equipment including: police vehicles; fire trucks; public works equipment and vehicles; HVAC, telecommunications and computer equipment; and more.
“Given the tremendous pressure these organizations are and will continue to be under, equipment financing will continue to expand to meet municipalities’ unique needs and help solve – or at least alleviate – some of their budget pressures,” Harry added.
Velazquez explained, “When acquiring public works equipment, for example, municipal administrators can spend significant time and expense completing the process which in some cases can be for just one piece of needed machinery. This program enables them to more quickly attain a locked-in price far better than they could have achieved working independently on such an agreement. Therefore, their municipality benefits and, most importantly, their taxpayers benefit from having an alternative and more efficient way to finance needed capital equipment.”