NORWICH – The Norwich Common Council is likely to entertain a motion to shuffle money within its budget to pay dues of a $48,500 fire truck city officials voted to purchase in March.

As part of the approved purchase, the city authorized a $5,000 down payment before having the truck delivered to the Norwich Fire Department. To pay the remaining $43,500, the Common Council proposes moving funds from four separate accounts: fire and liability insurance, contingency, historian, and management information systems.

The truck – a used pumper engine sold by the Huntington Fire Department in Phillipsburg, NJ – was purchased to replace a 2001 model that the Norwich Fire Department said was badly damaged due to corrosion. The department also said the estimated $40,000 cost of repairs to the 13-year-old truck would not have been cost-effective.

City officials said they hope to offset some of the costs of the purchase by selling the old truck as surplus.

A resolution approving the transfer of funds will go before the Common Council at its monthly meeting scheduled for Sept. 16.