NCFPD approves lease purchase agreement for new ambulance

The North County Fire Protection District (NCFPD) board approved a lease purchase agreement for a new ambulance.

The 5-0 board vote March 1 approved the lease in which the fire district will pay $228,710.85, including $20,119.28 in interest charges, over five years and will then own the ambulance. Community Leasing Partners will have ownership of the ambulance until the lease is paid off.

"It's needed," said NCFPD fire chief Steve Abbott. "Since the hospital closure our mileage has been significantly increased for transport, roughly tripled."

Fallbrook Hospital closed in December 2014, which has forced NCFPD ambulances to transport patients to facilities further away. In January 2016 the Fallbrook Healthcare District authorized a grant for a new ambulance in which the healthcare district would cover half of the cost. The fire protection district, which also provides emergency medical services, took possession of that ambulance Oct. 6. The new ambulance has been traveling approximately 5,000 miles each month.

"We need to replace these things realistically once every three years at that kind of rate if not every two years," Abbott said.

Prior to the closure of Falbrook Hospital, ambulances had front-line status for five to seven years and became reserve units typically after 100,000 miles.

The acquisition of the new ambulance, which is expected to be based at Station 5 in Bonsall, will allow the oldest ambulance to be retired completely. That ambulance, which was obtained in 2003, currently has reserve status and is based at the fire district headquarters. The next-oldest ambulances were acquired in 2009, and one of those will be transferred from front-line duty to reserve status.

Lease purchase financing enables local governments or non-profit organizations to obtain financing at lower interest rates than a normal payment plan.

"The lender retains the note, but it becomes ours once it's paid off," Abbott said.

The equipment is sold as a tax-exempt municipal lease. "The lease purchase is a benefit to the lender," Abbott said.

The purchase price without the interest is $208,591.57. The fire district will pay back that amount at an interest rate of 3.15 percent.

"You're typically paying less interest than you are on a straight-up loan," Abbott said.

The fire district will make five annual payments of $45,742.17 beginning in March 2018. The final payment is scheduled to be made on March 1, 2022.

The new ambulance is expected to be received by the fire district in late August.