By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

Berlin will issue a purchase order this week for a new vacuum truck to avoid anticipated price hikes due to steep tariffs to be implemented by the Trump Administration.

At a Monday, April 28 meeting of the Berlin Town Council, the municipality unanimously approved the purchase of a Vaccon Aeroboost Vacuum System Truck at a total cost not to exceed $624,000.

Town of Berlin Wastewater Superintendent Jamey Latchum said that his team intends to issue a purchase order this week to “start the process” of obtaining a new truck, “due to the new tariffs.”

“If we do not do this now, it will be out of my budget by July 1,” Latchum said. “If they receive a PO this week, we’re good to go.”

The town’s current vac truck, which is utilized across water, sewer, and stormwater services, is around 17 years old, well past its expected useful life of 10 years. To keep up with maintenance, the vehicle has started to cost the town money.

“I feel it’s time for us to get a new truck,” Latchum said. “I just don’t want something to happen catastrophically to that one, so we can get a new one in here and keep moving forward.”

A Trump Administration plan is expected to yield a 20% tariff impact. According to Councilman Steve Green, this implementation would increase the vac truck cost by around $125,000, hence the town’s expediency in securing the new vehicle.

“We want to try to lock it in so we can save,” Green said.

The new vac truck was initially publicly discussed at an April 21 utility budget work session. The spending plan details that the cost of the truck will be split between the water and sewer funds, around $325,000 each.

At the April 21 meeting, Latchum said the original truck was purchased in 2009 for $270,000. Last week, the wastewater superintendent was quoted $623,975 for the same vehicle, only upgraded.

The new vehicle is a vital purchase, and the town hopes that by issuing a purchase order this week, they will steer clear of the increased price due to the proposed tariffs. According to Berlin staff, the truck has been on the docket for some time.

“This piece of equipment was discussed for the past several years,” Berlin Finance Director Natalie Saleh said at last week’s budget work session.

“Water services are in great need of that. We were not able to place an order even during COVID. The price has gone up tremendously over the past couple of years. We are placing that because it is a must-have item for water services … If we don’t proceed with that, we are not sure if we are even going to touch that amount next year.”

While the vac truck is utilized across water, sewer, and stormwater services, the water and sewer funds will bear the cost of the equipment. This is because the stormwater fund is smaller than water and sewer, coming in at just over $1 million compared to water’s $5.7 million and sewer’s $7.2 million.