County Clerk/Auditor Steve Rawlings said the only elected county official provided with a vehicle 24 hours a day, seven days a week is Sheriff Bud Cox. "Where he is in public safety, considered by the IRS to need it 24-7, he has to have certain equipment in his vehicle.
"We don't issue gas cards to any of the administrative officers, department heads or elected officials for the purchase of gasoline,"he emphasized.
"We do have gas pumps accessed with a county card that is issued to people who run equipment and machinery for public works. Cards are also given to officers who are on the road. They are assigned those cards, which have to be used at designated pumps registered to those cars,"he continued.
The Public Works Department oversees that operation, including servicing of county vehicles, and issues regular reports on such purchases, Rawlings said.
"The cards are just issued for county vehicles (used) during county work hours," he said. Twenty county employees-including the 10 elected officials, three of whom are county commissioners, and 10 department heads--are given a flat travel/car allowance.
The commissioners each receive $541.67, before taxes, per month. Others receive $502.67. "When it was implemented years ago, the amount was based on a national formula that looked to provide an allowance that would take care of a standard or mid-size car,"Rawlings said.
It's meant to include coverage for such costs as insurance, maintenance, driving within the county. "The allowance is there; it's used. There is no flexibility like a gas card,"he said.
"If someone has to take a trip outside of the county, there is a mileage reimbursement,"Rawlings explained.
About 75 of the more than 900 county employees are required to have their personal vehicles available for possible work-related use, he said. They are paid an average of $126 a month, gross before taxes, plus mileage.
"In those cases, people turn in their mileage. That keeps us from having to have a large fleet here. We feel it's more economical to do it that way,"Rawlings said.
In addition, a small vehicle fleet is maintained for the assessor's office. That's for staffers who have to make appraisals outside of the office as a part of their jobs, he explained.
"As you look at different counties and cities, and see they've got a large fleet of vehicles people use during the day," then are parked-- there's a very high cost for a fleet service department to take care of those,"he said.
Although the Sheriff's office has a high number of vehicles, it does not operate them on a one-person-per-vehicle basis, as do many cities and counties.
The start-up to such a proposal was struck down two years ago. Currently, when one shift ends, a vehicle is turned over to the next crew, Rawlings said.
Of the county's way of doing it, Rawlings said, "It absolutely simplifies record-keeping and keeps accounting costs at a minimum."
Post a Comment
