Union County will make $50,000 more selling a solid waste truck to the City of Arkadelphia than it would on a trade-in, County Judge Mike Loftin told Justices of the Peace last month as they considered an ordinance to approve the sale.
"They gave me a trade-in price, the City of Arkadelphia was in a bind for a truck and they offered $50,000 more to have that truck right now than I could get for it in March (2024)," Loftin said. "So I say let it go; we'll make do."
The truck in question is used to haul garbage from roll-off containers, Loftin said, and ones like it are typically replaced every five years. This particular truck would have been up for a replacement next year, he said.
"How do you decide when trucks are too old and you're going to replace them, how is that figured?" asked District 4 JP Steve Ward.
Loftin answered, "We replace the roll-off trucks about every five years. The garbage trucks – the rear-load garbage trucks and those automated arm garbage trucks – are on a two-year rotation."
Loftin said the garbage trucks stay under warranty for two years, and he's able to get 60% of the original cost of the trucks when he trades them in after their warranties end.
"That keeps any repairs out of the budget, other than tires, brakes and fuel, because they stay under warranty," he said.
Ward asked if Arkadelphia was in "bad need of" the county's truck, and Loftin said yes.
"They needed it right now," he said.
According to the ordinance, the City of Arkadelphia will pay $110,000 for the 2018 Mack dump truck. The funds will be deposited in the unappropriated Industrial Waste Funds budget fund.
Present JPs unanimously approved the ordinance.