Municipal Financing Frequently Asked Questions
Why lease the equipment?
Tax-exempt leasing is one of the simplest and most successful ways to purchase essential equipment and facilities. In addition to qualifying for low interest rates, municipalities can conserve their cash while acquiring the equipment and facilities necessary for their day-to-day operation. Entering into a municipal lease may also be more cost effective because political subdivisions can purchase equipment or facilities at today’s prices, not next year’s price increase. This is in addition to the annual savings realized through decreased maintenance costs.
There are laws in all 50 states that restrict the ability of municipalities to borrow money. There are, however, very few restrictions on the ability of municipalities to enter into a lease. Leases represent a year-to-year commitment on the part of a municipality to make lease payments, not a commitment to pay debt service. In other words, leases are not considered debt and, therefore not subject to the limitations placed on debt by state and local laws.
Questions List
- What is a municipal or tax exempt lease?
- What types of entities qualify for a municipal or tax-exempt lease?
- Does a Volunteer Fire Department qualify for the same rate as a City, County or District?
- Why lease the equipment?
- What is the difference between a municipal lease purchase and a commercial/rental lease?
- Who owns the equipment under a tax-exempt lease and who is responsible for maintenance, insurance and taxes?
- What is a non-appropriation or funding out clause?
- What can be financed on a tax-exempt basis?
- Am I limited to certain types of equipment?
- Can used equipment be financed?
- Is there a minimum amount that can be financed with Municipal Financing LLC?
- Can I include my service or maintenance contract in the financing?
- Can I include money for future equipment purchases in today’s lease?
- Can I make payments via ‘auto draft’ or ACH?
- What are the terms available to municipal entities for financing?
- How does lease-purchase financing differ from bond financing?
- We’ve already paid for the equipment, can we still finance it?
- We are planning to order a truck that will take a year to build, when should we consider financing?
- We have other debt such as bank notes, mortgages or leases, can they be refinanced at the lower tax-exempt rates?
- When the city issued bonds, there were fees involved for underwriting, legal, printing, rating and insurance. Are there fees involved with a lease purchase?
- Can I finance equipment purchased from a variety of manufacturers/distributors?
- When reviewing proposals, what should I do to make sure I am comparing apples to apples?
- What do you mean by tax-exempt financing, our organization is already tax-exempt?
- Does the lessee have the option to pay off a lease prior to the last payment when financing with Municipal Financing LLC?
- If I am a vendor or a broker, can I work with Municipal Financing LLC to establish a ‘private label’ program for my company?
