GISD approves new GISDPD vehicles, bond reduction payment

The Gonzales ISD School Board met for a special called Monday, Aug. 8 at the district’s administration building.

One of the main agenda items was regarding purchasing three new outfitted police vehicles for the Gonzales ISD Police Department.

GISDPD Chief Gregory Brooks presented the agenda item to the board and explained how tough it is to buy a new vehicle.

Brooks said the preferred choice is a Chevy Tahoe, which makes it easier when trying to go out in rural areas, but they can’t buy any.

“So one of the big problems that I found is every place that I would call about vehicles, they are like, ‘We don't have anything on the ground, but I can give you a quote,’” Brooks said.

GISPD went with the two Dodge Chargers and a Chevy Silverado that were available at the dealership, and Brooks plans on taking the new vehicles to Personal Impressions for decal work.

“They did the decals in the past, so it didn't make any sense to reinvent the wheel. They told me they could do it, so we're using them for the decals,” Brooks said.

The board approved a budget amendment in the amount of $193,807 from functional level to function 52 for the purchase of three outfitted police vehicles.

In other board business, the board approved an order for the defeasance and reduction of a portion of the district's outstanding bonds and approved an escrow agreement and other related matters as presented.

GISD Chief Financial Officer Amanda Smith said this item is related to previous agenda item from the June 20 meeting.

“So in June, this is what was authorized that we would pay off an additional $705,000 this coming fiscal year, which would save our taxpayers almost $444,000 in interest over the life of the loan,” Smith said.

“Our certified property values that we received in July were roughly 16 percent higher than the APR estimated property values that we use to arrive at that number. We now have an opportunity to pay off $1 million extra next fiscal year and save our taxpayers almost $640,000 in interest savings,” Smith added.

The next school board meeting is set for Monday, Aug. 14.