WOODVILLE &045; After debating the lease-purchase of a new front-end loader for District 3 and consulting a state auditor on the issue, Wilkinson County Supervisors voted Monday 3-2 to accept an initial bid of $114,758 from Puckett Machinery of Natchez.

State purchasing laws require public bodies to accept the ‘lowest or best’ bid submitted.

Flowood-based Tubb Equipment and Deviney Equipment of Jackson both submitted lower initial bids, but District 3 Supervisor Jack Darden said the Puckett bid package contained more attractive financing and ‘buy-back’ options.

&uot;I would spend more over time with the other two,&uot; Darden said.

Darden, board attorney Ron Senko and Purchasing Clerk Consandra Christmas consulted with a state auditor via telephone conference during a break in the meeting.

Following the conference, Senko echoed Darden’s assertion.

&uot;Mr. Darden is comfortable that the Puckett bid is the best bid, and it can be supported as the best bid by the computations that will be made part of the record,&uot; Senko said.

Supervisors W. G. Johnson and Kirk Smith voted with Darden to approve the lease-purchase.

Fellow board members Robert Morgan and Mack Haynes dissented.

Morgan said he was opposed to buying any big-ticket items due to budget constraints.

Haynes said he voted to accept the lowest bid.

After the meeting, Darden noted that District 3 just concluded a similar lease-purchase on a front-end loader the county acquired five years ago.

&uot;It’s only three dollars difference in the notes we’ve been paying, so why not get a new, maintenance-free machine,&uot; he said.

According to documentation included in the board’s minutes, the county will pay monthly notes of $1,318.11 totaling $79,086.60 over five years.

Darden said Puckett would then pay a balloon note of $48,900 and reassume ownership of the equipment.

In other action, the board:

4Unanimously approved the use of $12,200 in state-aid funds to pay for the annual inspection of the county’s 105 bridges.

4Received an affidavit from Tax Assessor Wevlyn I. James attesting that a total of $13,316.68 in personal property taxes on area businesses are uncollectable.

4Heard a status report on Title III Forestry programs from MSU Extension Service Agent Don Bales.