Illinois-owned planes to be sold in online auction

SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Department of Central Management Services plans to relist six state-owned airplanes for sale on an online auction site after a previous attempt to lure buyers brought bids for only two planes.

Agency spokeswoman Alka Nayyar tells the Springfield bureau of Lee Enterprises newspapers that the auction for the unsold planes will have a new closing date of Dec. 15.

Gov. Pat Quinn ordered the sale of half of the state’s airplanes as an effort to save money when he approved the 2015 state budget in June. The planes up for sale have an appraised value of $4 million.

Bidders who want to buy the planes must meet a base price. For example the minimum bid for a 1999 Beechcraft King Air 250 was about $2.5 million.

ASSOCIATED PRESS