Financing equipment will preserve county funds
Commissioner King will secure lower interest rate by financing new excavator
By BARRY HALVORSON bhalvorson@journal-spectator.com

Looking to save the county some money, the Wharton County Commissioners Court approved authorizing Precinct 2 Commissioner Chris King to purchase a CAT 308 D excavator through the Buy Board from Mustang Tractor and to finance the purchase through CAT Financial.

King was originally trying to buy a used full-size grade-all but couldn't find one for sale and said the chosen piece of equipment could handle the same jobs as well as being versatile for other tasks.

He said he planned to pay $25,000 down in cash, trade-in or a combination of both toward the final purchase price of $127,200 and finance the remainder. He said while he had money in the budget to make a more substantial down payment, $72,000, CAT fi- nancing offered a 3.75 percent interest rate for a balance of over $100,000 but a rate of 5.25 percent for less than that amount.

"I plan to make a second payment within 60 days and then look at paying the remainder of the balance in January (after the new county budget goes into effect,)," King explained.

"I could pay more down but then I'd lose the good rate."