The Dallas County Secondary Roads Department recently went from owning zero soil compactors to owning two of them, all in one morning.

At the recent Board of Supervisors meeting, County Engineer Al Miller presented a proposal to purchase two self-propelled soil compactors, which are used to complete roadway infrastructure maintenance. Miller said for the last year they’ve been renting the machinery from Ziegler Caterpillar in Altoona, and the Department came to the conclusion that if they continued to rent, it would become more expensive than if they purchased them outright. With that in mind, Miller had conversations with Ziegler on purchasing the compactors they were already using and familiar with.

Ziegler said they were willing to give the County a credit based on how much they’ve already paid in renting the equipment, essentially creating and wrapping up a lease-to-own scenario. Miller pointed out, the machinery typically costs in excess of $200,000 a piece, but with the credit the purchase prices were $106,870.61 and $107,073.53. The Supervisors found the agreement acceptable and the Roads Department had the money in their current fiscal year budget, so the purchase request was approved.