Financing
Consider financing your TI purchase to get immediate use of this critical new tool, while spreading its cost over several years of the department’s budget. A thermal imager can pay for itself in one incident and can also enhance your fundraising efforts; the earlier you have one, the better. (For an example of total cost, see below.)
- Baystone Financial Group, a company that specializes in
fire and rescue finance, offers a program through which municipal
and not for profit fire departments can finance equipment purchases
with low interest rates and a simple application process. For
more information on financing your thermal imager, call Blake
Kaus at 800-752-3562 at bkaus@baystone.net, or visit Baystone
Financial at www.baystone.net.
Loan calculator: http://www.baystone.net/../Calculator/Index.cfm - USDA Rural Development makes low interest loans and grants in areas of up to 20,000 population through the Community Facility Direct Loans and Grants program. For more information on the USDA program, click here.
Total Cost example:
With as little as 15% down on a $10,000 thermal imager, the
annual payment over a three-year period would be approximately
$3,200, for a total cost of $11,200. If you extend your financing
of the same purchase over four years, each payment would be
about $2,500, for a total cost of $11,500. With 15 percent
down, your first payment is deferred for a year.
USDA Rural Development makes low interest loans (4.5% to
4.75%, based on income level) and grants in areas of up
to 20,000 population through the Community Facility Direct
Loans and Grants program. Priority is given to applicants
in rural communities with populations of 5,000 or less.
Applicants with low median household incomes receive a
higher percentage of the grants.
For grant funding, the fire department must serve areas where the median household income of the population is either below the poverty line or below 90 percent of the state non-metropolitan median household income (whichever is higher). Grants are authorized on a graduated scale. A grant may be used in combination with other financial assistance, such as a direct or guaranteed loan, applicant contribution, or loans and grants from other sources. Grant assistance may be available for up to 75 percent of project costs.
For additional information, contact your local USDA Rural Development office or: