When the bus barn for Park County School District 1 caught fire Sept. 14, five buses were destroyed. At its regular meeting Jan. 26, the district’s board of trustees approved a lease purchase agreement for replacement vehicles.

Six buses were ordered, as one bus was already scheduled for replacement before the fire.

The vehicles will be delivered in two flights of three each, with the first delivery on Wednesday. 

“That’s a couple months faster than we originally thought,” said Superintendent Jay Curtis.

Curtis had recommended the board approve the quote provided by Pinnacle Bank. Its interest rate is 1.62% with no origination or filing fees assessed and no penalty for early repayment. This lease agreement was only for the first set of three buses, with repayment set at $138,313.25 annually beginning in June 2021.

Trustee Don Hansen wondered why the district was borrowing the money at all, when there were cash reserves on hand. He also questioned whether the fire marshal had filed a report and, if so, when he could see that report. Additionally, Hansen asked if the school district’s insurance had paid on the damaged buses.

“Leases are too expensive,” he said. “We could pay cash and save $4,000 or $5,000.”

Curtis explained a lease purchase was not the same as a private vehicle lease and that state guidelines require the buses to be amortized over five years. The expenditure is reimbursed to the district by the state, he added, so it wouldn’t make sense to use cash reserves. 

“We follow the state rules and guidelines. We’ve done it for decades and as long as you have been on this board,” the superintendent told Hansen.

Trustee Laura Riley agreed paying cash would save on interest, but told Hansen and the other board members that, “I would hate to touch our reserves, not knowing what our budget is going to look like this year.”

The matters of the insurance payment and the fire marshal’s report were not part of the agenda item and could not be addressed in that particular discussion. The vote was taken, with the agreement passing 6-1 and Hansen casting the lone “no” vote.

After the vote, Curtis explained that the district’s insurer is going to pay on the five totaled buses. He also said the fire marshal’s report had come in, indicating the fire began in the engine compartment of one of the buses. That bus had been on its regular route that morning and performed as usual, with no problems or check engine lights coming on.