FLEET MANAGEMENT P. O. Box 9005 DIVISION Bartow, Fl. 33831

FLEET MANAGEMENT P. O. Box 9005 DIVISION Bartow, Fl. 33831 Bob Stanton, Director 863/534-5660 Fax/534-0390 [email protected]4／4／2018 To: Lea Ann ThomasFrom: Bob StantonRe: Vehicle Policy ProposalsThe following is a series of proposals for your review and consideration. They’re offered to address specific areas of risk in our current policies either due to their lack of clarity or specific definition or due to their absence altogether. The areas addressed are: 24 Hour Vehicle Assignments/Take Home Vehicles  Parking County Vehicles at locations other than at assigned offices  Compensation of County Employees with Take Home Vehicles Privileges  Proliferation of SUV’s in the County’s Vehicle Inventory  Annual Drivers’ License Audits for County EmployeesBACKGROUND:Government vehicle use policies and practices in the public sector are undergoing increasing nationwide scrutiny1. Because vehicles are a costly and visible aspect of government services, citizens, the press, and elected officials often target vehicle related issues as opportunities for cost reduction and efficiency2. As custodians of the public trust, governments are honor bound to evaluate their policies and make changes where necessary both to assure the citizens’ trust is justified and to minimize the risk of being criticized for failing to control vehicle cost and utilization. The areas detailed above present opportunities where Polk County can improve asset control, compliance with IRS rules, and better satisfy the tests being applied to governments nationwide by either citizens or the press, lower vehicle costs and assure better protection of County assets.1 Clark County Review Journal 10/29/2000 2 Chicago Sun-Times 11/3/2004 “County Board Members Want More Fleet Accountability” 24 Hour Vehicle Assignments/Take – Home VehiclesPolk County’s Employee Handbook already addresses this issue3 with loosely defined criteria and oversight by the County Manager. Its loose definition allows employees to routinely drive County vehicles home whose responsibilities are equally loosely defined. For instance, two senior managers with Leisure Services are each allowed take - home vehicles who, according to the Communication Center, have never received an after hours call out during the past fiscal year4. Ninety one (91) vehicles are currently approved for this status including 13 Fire Service employees5. The likelihood of a Fire incident requiring this level of response seems remote. Other circumstances (e.g. Code Enforcement, Building Division) however are well justified.The County’s take – home vehicle policy should have better controls with clearly defined criteria that’s easily understood and well justified. Clear criteria will reduce the County Manager’s involvement and stand the test of inquiry by illustrating the benefit to the citizens.Parking County Vehicles at locations other than assigned locationsThis is a common practice. County employees are allowed to park County vehicles at a County facility close to their home and swap for their personal vehicle parked at that location. This policy is outlined in an administrative procedure from the County Manager’s office (Attach #2). The policy isn’t clear nor is there oversight or an approval process to prevent abuse. This practice is justified by management who purport that doing so allows the employee to start his/her day sooner, inspect roadways to and from work, or to be closer to their geographic areas of responsibility all of which seem to indicate the employee is technically “on the clock” when they swap their personal vehicle for a County vehicle.In theory, this practice makes sense if there were any way to control or monitor its benefit to the County. In reality and without oversight, this practice is abused by some, causing the County to supplement employee commuting costs with no benefit to the citizens and higher vehicle operating costs for the County. For example: A Codes employee who resides in Winter Park (Orange County) drives a County vehicle to and from Bartow to the Fire Station #30 at SR54 & Hwy 27 where their personal vehicle is parked.  An Roadway supervisor assigned to Dundee is allowed to park their personal vehicle at the Providence Fire Station, fully 40 miles from Dundee with only two3 Polk County Handbook, Page 61 4 Communication Center’s Call Out Log FY03/04 5 Administrative Policy – Overnight Parking of County Vehicles 8/2004 clear routes in between, one of which is I-4, a federal highway for which no County inspection is required. In Hillsborough County, two employees sued the County for back pay involving their time commuting back and forth in a County vehicle to a remote parking area. They contended they were still “on the clock” during their commute since they were in a County vehicle. Although it’s doubtful this suit will stand (Hills. Co. is awaiting a ruling from the Department of Labor), Hillsborough County estimated the cost to the County of such compensation would exceed $700,000.There’s also the issue of who is responsible should the employee be injured in an auto accident while “commuting” in a County vehicle. Although the Workman’s Compensation statute defines clearly “going and coming”6, Risk Management states this definition is often clouded by judicial interpretation. The risk to the County is evident and should be avoided.There is no way to effectively monitor the effectiveness, or benefit to the County of the remote parking practice. If it benefits the County to allow an employee to drive a vehicle to the nearest County location closest to their home, why not allow them to drive the County vehicle all the way to their home?Finally, this practice costs the County both in fuel and wear and tear on vehicles. Not knowing how many employees engage in this practice makes quantifying the opportunity costs or savings from the elimination of the practice impossible to calculate. Compensation of Employees with Take – Home VehiclesSpecific IRS rules govern the compensation of employees who have take home vehicle privileges. These rules extend even to employees who take service trucks home7. Exemptions are allowed for employees designated as first responders and law enforcement and for employees whose assigned vehicles are equipped with emergency equipment or other special equipment.The County doesn’t abide by these rules. When asked, the Personnel Director responded with the explanation that since the vehicles are taken home for the “County’s benefit”, the County doesn’t adjust the employees’ compensation or taxation status.The IRS makes no exception for the employer’s benefit. The County may be uninformed fully on the implications or interpretation of IRS 15-B. Based on the entities researched, local government compliance is mixed. Like Polk, many local governments allow take home vehicles and don’t recognize the IRS regulations. Their motivation wasn’t questioned in our research but we suspect similarity6 Workman’s Compensation law 440.092 7 See IRS Rule 15 - B to Polk’s position in most cases so it’s unknown if those entities have interpreted the regulations in this way or if they are simply unaware of them.Most government entities that interpret IRS 15-B differently than Polk County treat commuting miles as income reported on the IRS Form 1099. An example of one local government’s approach is the City of N. Miami Beach. They assess a fee based upon how far away the employee’s live if they have a take home vehicle 8. Conversely, the City of Lakeland reports tax on the specific days the vehicles are used as take home units.Our County Attorney should evaluate Polk County’s current position relative to IRS rules and determine if changes are needed.Proliferation of SUV’sThe existence of the Replacement Fund has simplified the vehicle acquisition process. Although beneficial to the County’s operation overall, the lack of oversight and specific criteria pertaining to the types of vehicles purchased has resulted in an increasing number of SUV type vehicles purchased over the past few years. SUV’s are expensive, more costly to operate than similar vehicles capable of many of the same tasks9, and larger than commonly necessary for most county applications10. Irrespective of their higher purchase cost, a study by the AAA (American Automobile Assoc.) showed the cost of SUV operation to be at least $0.06/mile higher than a car11. SUV’s are often acquired and used as perks or benefits rather than being need based. In Polk County, a combination of both exists. Some SUV’s have been purchased based on legitimate needs, others have been acquired with no oversight given to the actual mission and consequently are more “vehicle” than is needed; others have been acquired based on justification that hasn’t come to fruition. Recognizing this issue, many local and state government fleets around the country have taken steps to curb, control or even eliminate SUV’s1213 from their fleets. Some Polk County divisions have used creative justification to secure even larger SUV’s than normal, for instance: As justification for the purchase of Expeditions, Fire Services said that slide-in consoles were planned for Battalion Chiefs and made specifically for Expeditions. 18 months after the Expedition purchase, no slide units have been acquired.  Justifying the purchase of Excursions (the largest SUV on the market), Solid Waste stated they needed two for tours of their operation, in spite of the availability of that service through the County’s own transit service. 8 City of N. Miami Beach Take Home Vehicle Policy 10/1/2003 9 www.serconline.org/suvFleets.html 10 www.suv.org/environ.html 11 www.serconline.org/suvFleets.html 12 Suffolk County Virginia SUV assignment policy 13 California Fleet NewsIn both of the above examples, Fleet Management required purchase approval from the respective Department Directors. A more controlled approach is recommended below that requires special equipment justification and approval oversight by parties who can evaluate SUV requests objectively.Controlling this aspect of vehicle purchasing will assure SUV acquisition is well justified, more cost effective and will stand the test of outside scrutiny.Annual Employee Motor Vehicle Driver’s License auditsThe Employee Handbook places the burden of MVR (Motor Vehicle Record) checks on the divisions. It’s their responsibility to annually submit a request that includes a list of their employees to Risk Management who will obtain and audit MVR information for the requesting division14.There is no control to assure each division submits such a request and when asked, the Risk Manager indicated few divisions, beyond Fleet, actually do so. Requiring Divisions to “self police” this aspect of their employees’ qualifications may actually be counter to the divisions’ missions causing them to avoid the checks in fear of losing production if an employee (s) MVR record fails to meet the County’s requirements.A lack of awareness of the driving records of County employees, particularly those who operate County vehicles routinely, places the County at considerable risk. MVR’s should be obtained annually and audited by Risk Management. Requiring the divisions to self police themselves isn’t an effective method to assure the County is adequately protected. Risk Management agrees that annual MVR checks should be routine and consistent. Should this practice be adopted, there is a budget impact of this decision.Many governments have adopted annual MVR checks both for safety and homeland security reasons15,16.RESEARCHIn order to assure fairness and consistency, the practices of many government fleet operations were obtained (See Attach. #1). Members of the Florida Association of Fleet Administrators, the Northwest Government Fleet Association, and several other selected operations around the County were queried on these specific topics.It was learned that although many agencies and jurisdictions had addressed these issues and formed established policies, it was equally clear many had not. Of the agencies that14 Employee Handbook Page 91 15 Nashville/Davidson County Fleet Audit, Page 3f 16 Montgomery County March 2001 Fleet Management Audit Report had, many had done so as a result of public scrutiny, or as a result of media inquiries questioning one or more of these issues. Many agencies mirrored Polk County but when asked, they indicated interest in learning the results of our research and what changes we intended as a result.RECOMMENDATIONS: The proposed policies that follow are submitted as recommendations for consideration only. Some will require review by the County Attorney, especially those that involve the IRS. They propose transferring routine oversight from the County Manager to the Fleet Management Director. The Fleet Manager, as the custodial “owner” of the fleet should have routine authority to approve or deny a vehicle request, especially if it involves expenditures from the Replacement Fund. Adopting the proposed criteria removes the County Manager from all but the most contentious decisions or those requiring appeal of the Fleet Manager’s decision, which is made available within the proposals.WHAT’S NEXT?I will appreciate your comprehensive review of these proposals. Your review will determine what steps are next. No decision and remaining with the status quo is certainly an option. Attachments:1. Entities Researched 2. County Manager’s Administrative Policy on Take-Home VehiclesVehicle Policy Proposals: Take Home/24 Hour Assigned Vehicle Policy ProposalPurpose:To facilitate emergency response or to enhance the economy of localized response to benefit Polk County citizens. Specific and objective criteria shall be utilized to assign 24-hour vehicles to employees.To restrict the number of county-owned vehicles being operated daily from an employee’s residence.To assure employee 24-hour assignment of a county-owned vehicle is neither a privilege nor a right.Assignment of a 24-hour county vehicle shall not be based solely on merit or position.Neither emergency communication access (radio, telephone) nor the existence of emergency equipment contained in the vehicle shall normally be considered adequate justification by itself for a 24-hour county vehicle assignment.24-hour vehicle assignment must be authorized by Fleet Management. If a 24-hour vehicle assignment request is denied by Fleet Management, the decision can be appealed to the County Manager or his/her designate.Assignment Criteria:To receive a take – home/24-hour vehicle, one or more of three criteria (below) must be documented:1. Emergency Response: Take home vehicles may be assigned to County employees who: a. Are called out at least 12 times/calendar quarter, or 48 times/yr and have primary and immediate responsibility to protect life and/or property; and b. Cannot use alternative forms of transportation to respond to emergencies; and c. Emergency response can by supported by documentation, primarily logs kept by Radio Services at the County Communication Center d. Cannot pick up county-owned assigned vehicle without impacting the ability to respond if immediate response is critical to protect life and property 2. Special Equipment Vehicles: Take home vehicles may be assigned if an employee requires a specialized vehicle to perform County work outside of an employee’s normally scheduled workday. a. Communication access shall not normally be considered by itself as valid justification for a take home vehicle. b. Employees must have primary responsibility to respond to calls and be available (on stand-by) when requested c. Special equipment assignments shall be supported by special equipment needed to perform County work. The special equipment shall be substantial in nature including significant tools or machinery.3. Economic Benefit to the County: Take-home vehicles may be assigned when doing so represents significant economic benefit to the County in efficiency. a. Lost productivity costs, the cost of the time it takes any employee to travel from his routine base of operations to their assigned work location.Exemptions:Occasional overnight use of County-owned vehicles is exempt from the above criteria but require pre-event notification via email to both their immediate supervisor and to Fleet Management. Occasional Overnight Assignment/Use: Is permitted as follows: a. Off-site meeting/conference attendance if it’s more productive for the employee to depart directly from their home. b. Emergency preparedness and/or inclement weather. c. County business where either the vehicle itself or insurance requires the use of a County-owned vehicle. Take home vehicle privilege is rescinded while the employee is on annual leave beyond an 8 hour period and/or the employee is on light duty or sick leave which prevents them from performing their usual duties requiring the use of a County vehicle. The assigned vehicle must be parked at the employee’s assigned work location and available for use by other employees during those times.Failure to adhere to these policies may result in disciplinary action as outlined in the Employee Handbook.Responsibilities:A. Fleet Management: 1. Serve as the control point for this policy by evaluating and either authorizing or denying take-home vehicle requests. 2. Notify appropriate County management of take-home assignment authorizations 3. Review Comm Center call history annually to amend take-home vehicle status County-wideB. Department/Division Directors:1. Request take-home vehicle assignment providing justification for the request based on the above criteria 2. Assure compliance with the criteria for consistency 3. Evaluate the applicability of utilizing occasional take-home authority vs. 12 month authority 4. Notify Fleet Management when the status of a take-home vehicle has changed.Other Policy Considerations:If adoption of this or a similar policy is considered, additional responsibilities may be assigned regarding: Employees  Treatment of compensation and IRS Paragraph 15-B  RecordkeepingAlternative Parking Policy ProposalProposal:Employees are not permitted to park an assigned County vehicle at a County owned location within close proximity of their home. If it is determined by the Take Home Vehicle Policy Criteria that the County will benefit by assigning the employee a take- home vehicle as an alternative, the Take-Home Vehicle policy will prevail.Compensation of Employees with Take – Home Vehicle Privileges Proposal:Employees with take-home vehicle privileges are subject to IRS Paragraph 15-B pertaining to compensation and fringe benefits unless the vehicle itself qualifies for an exemption under IRS definitions. The value of this fringe benefit should be calculated and added to the employee’s compensation where it will be subject to income taxes. Exemptions include: Clearly marked law enforcement or fire vehicles  Unmarked law enforcement  Service Trucks with special equipment (Fleet/Utilities/Facilities)The County Attorney and Personnel should evaluate if/how this policy should be implemented. Qualifications for the Acquisition of Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV’s)Purpose:To control and monitor the acquisition of sport utility vehicles (SUV’s).To assure the acquisition of SUV’s is supported adequately.To assure each SUV acquisition decision is made in the best interest of the County.To assure acquisition funds are allocated to purchase vehicles ideally suited for their purpose and mission.To reduce and/or control the County’s inventory of SUV’s by encouraging the use of SUV’s in the Fleet Management Motor Pool. To reduce vehicle life cycle costs by acquiring the most efficient and cost effective vehicles for each County mission.Policy:SUV acquisition will be based on a) meeting established criteria and b) approval by a committee consisting of the Fleet Management Director, the Purchasing Director and the Budget and Management Services Director. A decision to deny SUV acquisition can be appealed to and overturned by the County Manager.No current SUV will be “grandfathered in” and replaced “like for like” automatically. Every future SUV acquisition must be justified subject to the criteria and procedures outlined below.Criteria and Procedure:Personnel Transport: a. If three or more people are transported in the vehicle two or more days/week the approved SUV is a Ford Escape or similar vehicle. b. If four or more people are transported in the vehicle two or more days/week the approved SUV is a Ford Explorer or similar vehicle. c. If six or more people are transported two or more days/week the approved SUV is a Ford Expedition or similar vehicleSpecial Service: a. If special equipment, tools or machinery is carried routinely within the vehicle and a pickup with a topper or similar cover is unacceptable, the appropriate SUV may be authorized. Adequate justification including information regarding the equipment and vehicle application must be submitted for consideration.Committee Review:Upon meeting the criteria above, all proposed or requested SUV acquisitions will be reviewed by the Committee outlined above. Upon receiving approval, the SUV will be acquired by Fleet Management utilizing the normal replacement vehicle cycle. If the Committee denies the SUV, the Fleet Management Director will communicate the Committee’s justification for their denial to the appropriate department/division director (s) and include an alternate vehicle(s) for consideration. If the department/division wishes to appeal the Committee’s decision, they may do so by submitting a memo of appeal to the County Manager or his/her designate. If the Committee’s decision is overturned, the County Manager or his/her designate will inform Fleet Management of the decision, in writing, for retention in the new vehicle’s master file.Divisions will be subject to adherence to and audit of the criteria submitted as justification. If the use of the vehicle changes and fails to adhere to the criteria, the SUV may be reassigned either by the home division or by Fleet Management to an application more suited to its capabilities and size.SUV’s will be subject to the County’s stated vehicle utilization goal of 8,000 miles per year.Policy ProposalAnnual Employee Motor Vehicle Driving Record Checks (MVR)Purpose:To assure County employees’ driving records meet County standards. To protect the public and other County employees by assuring employees operating a County vehicle possess valid drivers’ licenses.To assure employees required by their positions to have Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDL’s) to operate County vehicles possess the proper license, class and endorsements consistent with their job requirements.Policy:All employees in a position to drive a County vehicle will be subject to annual MVR checks. Risk Management will conduct the annual MVR reviews and forward their results to the respective divisions. The results for any employee whose record fails to meet County requirements will be forwarded to the respective Department Director and to Personnel. The division to which the employee is assigned will be responsible for taking the appropriate action outlined in the Employee Handbook.Procedure:Using County position descriptions, IT will establish a database of all employees whose positions include driving a County vehicle. If applicable to the position, the database will include the class of CDL required including any endorsements needed for that license classification. That database will be supplied to Risk Management annually. Risk Management will obtain annual MVR’s on the employees contained within the database and will audit and report the results for employees whose driving records fail to meet the County’s requirements to the respective divisions and to Personnel.The division will take the appropriate action dictated by the Employee Handbook to assure those employees whose licenses fail to meet County standards and will prohibit those employees from operating a County vehicle until their driving record is restored to County standards.Appropriate measures will be taken throughout this process to assure the employee’s rights of privacy are protected.

FLEET MANAGEMENT P. O. Box 9005 DIVISION Bartow, Fl. 33831

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