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News


Short-Term Leases Offer Long-Term Benefits


WRITTEN BY ERIC WOOLSON I


t took a couple years, a good measure of persistence, a happy coincidence and some ingenuity on the part of a leasing compa- ny, but Auburn-Washburn Unified School


District 437 took the plunge into leasing, and Director of Operations Richard Jones couldn’t be happier.


Kansas has been in the midst of a long-run- ning education budget crisis that has hit districts hard, resulting in spending cuts and a state Supreme Court challenge to a funding measure signed into law by Gov. Sam Brown- back in April. Jones said that the district had considered leasing options over the past few years, but couldn’t find a strategy that worked, as its fleet was aging and money was too tight


to purchase many new vehicles. Under a 2009 state law, Kansas districts


are now allowed to keep vehicles in service 25 years—up from the previous 12 years—but even that move has its limits. “You can keep your buses longer and that’s great, but we put a lot of miles on them and we have a lot of gravel (roads),” Jones said. Te happy coincidence occurred when


Jones met Doug Messer, a regional sales man- ager for Midwest Transit Equipment’s Kansas City, Missouri branch, at a brainstorming session of area transportation and operations personnel. Messer, who had previously served as transportation director for Manhattan-Ogden


USD 383 and on the district board, listened to the regional officials’ financial challenges, returned to his office and came up with a leasing arrangement that would meet the Auburn-Washburn district’s needs. Te lease option is a winner because of its unusual equipment, delivering buses used for only one year by a Chicago district. Auburn-Washburn benefits from the full factory warranty while leasing for the next three years. “We can test the buses out and have the option to buy or lease something else,” Jones said. “It’s not going to be a permanent option, but it’s a great one for us because of the financing uncertainty in the district.” Te Kansas district was looking at spending more than $230,000 to buy three new buses, but Jones said that wouldn’t have met the district’s needs. Te decision to lease six 71-seat buses


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www.amfbrunsamerica.com 20 School Transportation News • JUNE 2016


1797 Georgetown Road, Hudson, OH 44236


FILED FOR INTERNATIONAL PATENT.


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