Surplus auction
What: Hall County Schools auctions lawn mowers, filing cabinets, dishwashers, stove tops, ovens, 22-inch televisions, commodes, school buses, trucks, vans, kitchen items, kindergarten kitchen sets
When: 9 a.m. today
Where: Bus shop, 2915 Atlanta Highway, Gainesville
The Hall County school board is aiming to make a little bit of money this morning by auctioning off vehicles, lawn mowers and a host of other surplus items to the public.
"We have some used, old buses we're selling," said Jewel Armour, Hall County Schools executive director of operations. "Some of them were wrecked or they have a lot of miles."
Hall County Schools Deputy Superintendent Lee Lovett said other items to be auctioned include filing cabinets, cafeteria and food service appliances, 22-inch televisions, maintenance vehicles, commodes and kitchen sets sized for kids.
"When a school system has surplus property, they can go to another school system or be auctioned," Armour said. "They can't be sold individually."
In the past, the school board held a surplus auction annually, Lovett said, but that tradition waned. The last surplus auction was in 2008.
"That one made us $13,200. Some $9,300 of that was for the sale of school buses, and we put that part in a (budget) line called bus replacement," Lovett said. "To tell you the truth, the last couple of years the stuff we had just wasn't valuable so we couldn't do much with it. We've been holding on to old buses, and we've got some other stuff that'll bring us a little money."
Lovett said the board learned quickly that it cost more than items were worth to transport them to a junk yard if they were chosen to be discarded completely.
In addition to the public auction, he said the board will use online auction sites for some of the food service items.
"You have to get a special type of buyer for that or you won't get much," Lovett said.
Armour said the buses being auctioned had already been replaced in the county's fleet, but the older buses were kept for use as activity buses.
"There are some people who will come by and buy them for salvage," he said. "We usually sell everything we have."
Lovett said the board was not expecting a big turnout at the auction — 30 to 40, tops — based on past community response.
He said he wasn't sure how much money the auction would bring in.
"Maybe $8,000 or $10,000, but that's just a wild guess," Lovett said.