The City of Richlands has become the most recent local government to contract with Sparta Commercial Services, Inc.'s nationwide Municipal Lease Program as it adds to its fleet of police cruisers, according to a release issued by Sparta.

Richlands is now the seventh jurisdiction in the state of North Carolina alone to use Sparta program, which allows municipalities to lease, rather than purchase, their essential equipment, thereby taking advantage of the ability to pay the costs of police cruisers and motorcycles, and other critical assets over time instead of the full up-front costs of purchasing.

Amy Hill, fleet sales manager at Ilderton Dodge, which also provided Dodge Chargers to several of the other police departments under similar contracts with Sparta and is again the participating dealer for Richlands, said, "Working with Sparta's Municipal Lease department is always a pleasure, and we appreciate the opportunities that their Municipal Program brings to our dealership. We've done a number of these transactions with Sparta, and I know we'll be doing more."

In addition to the seven municipalities, including Richlands, Sparta is currently negotiating with three other jurisdictions in North Carolina that are interested in acquiring their necessary equipment through the Sparta Municipal Lease Program.

"Apparently, an increasing number of local jurisdictions in North Carolina are becoming aware of our municipal program and its advantages over outright purchasing, and it's clearly the result of excellent word-of-mouth among the state's jurisdictions," said Anthony Havens, CEO of Sparta.