Syracuse approves a $1.8 million lease-purchase for a fire engine and water tender
The City Council approved a lease-purchase on Sept. 8, 2026 for a $1.2 million fire engine and a $600,000 water tender, paid in five annual installments at a fixed 4.55%, according to the council's minutes.
Continuing story: Auditing Syracuse
The Syracuse City Council authorized the mayor on Sept. 8, 2026 to sign a lease-purchase agreement for a fire engine and a water tender, according to the council's minutes, which carry an Oct. 13 approval date. [2]
Councilmember Paul Watson moved to approve Resolution R26-35 and Councilmember Julie Robertson seconded. The minutes record all voting in favor. [2]
The terms
The lease is with ZMFU II, Inc., a Zions Bank subsidiary. It covers a fire engine at $1,200,000 and a water tender at $600,000, a combined $1.8 million. [1]
The city would make five annual payments over four years at a fixed 4.55% rate, the first on Sept. 30, 2026 and the last on Sept. 30, 2030. The equipment becomes city property once the lease is paid off. [1]
The lease form's Exhibit A sets out the payments. There are five, each due Sept. 30 from 2026 through 2030, of $392,727.32 apiece except 2027's $392,727.33. The first has no interest component. Scheduled interest across the lease is $163,636.61, for $1,963,636.61 in principal and interest on $1.8 million of principal. [3]
The form says the lease runs one fiscal year at a time and renews each year, and the city can end it by not appropriating funds. That makes it a year-by-year commitment, not an unconditional promise to pay. The signature page and Exhibit A in the packet are unsigned forms. The minutes record staff's expectation that both vehicles would arrive in about a month, and the Ledger has not seen an executed lease, a payment or a delivery record. [2][3]
The council's Oct. 13 consent agenda included declaring a 2011 Kenworth fire tender surplus property. [1]
The council's final minutes, approved Oct. 13, and the lease form and payment schedule in the Sept. 8 packet now back these details. The lease form in the packet is unsigned. An approved payment schedule is not proof of payment or delivery. This lease is separate from the refinancing of the fire station bonds.
Sources
- Syracuse City Council · Oct. 13, 2026 packet, including draft Sept. 8, 2026 minutes
- Syracuse City Council · Sept. 8, 2026 minutes, final copy (approved Oct. 13, 2026)
- Syracuse City Council · Sept. 8, 2026 packet: lease form (PDF page 79, signature page 88) and Exhibit A payment schedule (PDF page 89)
Reporting by The Utah Ledger from the public records above. AI-assisted, checked against those records.