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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolutions - 1973.11.29 - 15557Miscellaneous Resolution 6488 November 29, 1973 BY: FINANCE COMMITTEE - Fred D. Houghten, Chairman IN RE: AUDITORS POLICY ON ASSIGNMENT OF COUNTY VEHICLES TO THE OAKLAND COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen; WHEREAS your Corn ,rit-,,.7. '.,as reviewed a proposed Auditors Policy on Assignment of County Vehicles and has made several amendments to the said Policy Report; and WHEREAS your Cortm-Thi..- recommends that the said Auditors Policy on Assignment of County Vehicles, NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Auditors Policy on of County Vehicles, as amended, copy of which is hereto, be and is H.,.eby d, be approved; The Finance Committee, by Fred D. Houghten, adoption of the for«::....:7,inJ resolution. FINANCE COMMITTEE #6488 Moved by Houghten supported by Nowak the resolution be adopted. Moved by Coy supported by Vogt the resolution be laid on the table until the December 6, 1973 meeting. A sufficient majority having voted therefor, the resolution was tabled. COUNTY POLICY ON ASSIGN OF COUNTY VEHICLES CENTRAL POOL The Central Pool consists of vehicles housed at the Central Garage, which are used for the following purposes: A. To be used by those departments who are in need of unscheduled or intermittent transportation. Generally, these vehicles are checked out for short periods of time, but occasionally are used for full days or , several days when necessary. B. To be used as replacement vehicles, when necessary, when assigned vehicles are brought into the Garage for normal preventative maintenance or due to necessary repair service. BASIC ASSIC=NT PRINCIPLES It is the policy of the County of Oakland, to provide the most economic and feasible types of transportation, for those departments requiring methods of transportation to accomplish their prime mission. It is recognized that vehicles are management tools and are necessary for the transportation of persons, equipment, supplies and specialized activity. In this respect the Board of Auditors are responsible for the assignment of vehicles, based upon the following principles: A. The basic principle in the assignment of a County vehicle to a department, an employee or a group of employees for the conduct of County 'easiness shall be in the best interest of the County in terms of economy, improvement or necessity of operations. B. Recognizing the ',],n'agoment role of the department or __I—Litution head, no assinment other than those made by the Auditors on the basis of overall mileage . to be driven, will be considered except on the request and approval of the department or institution head, Where in the judgement of the Auditors, a County employee should be placed in a County vehicle because of the mileage to be driven, the department or institution head will be consulted prior to such assignment. C. Recognizing the assignment of a County vehicle is in effect a trust and often results in an indirect fringe benefit to the employee, the Auditors reserve the right to forthwith revoke such assignment, or invoke such other penalties as shall be appropriate under the circumstances, whenever said employee shall be guilty of improper care or use of such vehicle. Prior disciplinary action on the part of the department or institution head will be considered by the Auditors prior to any action taken by them. D. Recognizing the conditions under which an assignment has been granted may vary from time to time, each department or institution head in whose department assignments have been made shall immediately notify the Auditors via the Auditors-Central Services Division of any changes of circumstances calling for a change of a previously approved assignment within that department. To this end the Auditors will require annual re-justification of all regular assign- ments. E. Recognizing the complex and multiple factors involved in the assignment of County vehicles under Item A above the Auditors, in determining such assign- ments, will give consideration to the following factors or combinations thereof: 1. MILEAGE DRIVEN Where it is determined that the average monthly mileage, driven by an employee or group of employees, falls within a (2) range where it would bo 1. costly to the County to reimburse tl:e employee (s) for using their personal vehicles. This is the primary consideration for assignment of County vehicles. The mileage of those vehicles, assigned to specific departments, on the basis of mileage driven, shall be inspected quarterly to determine if sufficient miles are being driven in County - related business trips to necessitate continued assignment to the department. 2. SPECIALIZED VEHICLE EQUIPMENT Where it is determined 'uliat the vehicle must have specialized equipment built into it, as an integral port of the vehicle, to properly perform the functions of the job. The imnracticability of drawing a vehicle specially equipped, from the Central Pool, shall be shown. Examples of such equipment are as follows: a. Emergency lights and sirens. b. Two-way radios. c. Specialized truck bodies. d. Snow removal and earth moving equipment. 3. SPECIALIZED VEHICLES Where it is determined that a specialized type of vehicle is required to efficiently carry out the functions of the department, for the purpose of transporting materials, equipment, supplies and personnel to job sites. The impracticability of drawing such a specialized vehicle, from the Central Pool, shall be shown. Examples of items to be transported include: a. Construction tools. b. Surveying instruments. c. Radiological equipment. d. Parts inventories. e. Testing equipment. f. Pumps and compressors. g. Laboratory equipment. h. Chemicals. i. Grounds personnel. j. Maintenance personnel. 4. TERRAIN CONDITIONS Where it is determined that the travel conditions are not conducive to the use (3) of personally owned vehicles. The impracticability of -drawing an adequate vehicle, from the Central Pool, shall be shown. 5. E:477GENCY _ Where it is deternd that it is necessary to have a vehicle F7:q7iaable to respond immediately to a work situatlon or for public service emergencies which require immediate response. The likelihood of an emergency occuring, which requires the immediate attention of the assignee, shall be clearly shown. Examples include the following: a. Response to natural disasters. b. Enforcement emergencies. e. Health and safety emergencies. d. Emergencies related to the safety of County-owned facilities and personnel. e. Situations where it Is important to respond immediately to fulfill the services expected by the tax- paying public. 6. TRANSPORTING NON-COUNTY PERSONNEL Where it is a regular function of the department to provide transportation for persons, other than County employees. The impracticability of drawing an adequate vehicle, from the Central Pool, shall be clearly shown. Examoles are as follows: a. Prisoner transportation. b. Transporting children who are wards of the court. c. Making arrests. d. Transporting hospital patients. 7. DEPARTMENT HEADS Each major department head whose duties entail the use of a vehicle in carrying out his normal assigned responsibilities will be permanently assigned a vehicle for departmental use. Such vehicles, though assigned to the department head, are to be made available to other departmental personnel for necessary travel and the likelihood of such travel will be considered in making the assign- ment. This is a natural extension of the Central (4) Pool concept, as theCourtV 'operations have continued to -grew and decentralize. The impractieability of drawing a vehicle, from the Central Pool, shall be clearly.. shown. The above is in recognition of the increased cost to the County because of the following factors: a. The use of the department head's available time in securing and returning vehicles to the Central Pool or provldjng, in lieu thereof, the necessary "delivery services". b. The necessity for immediate and often home to destination travel. c. Hidden costs due to delay when vehicles are not available, or in the converse, the increased number of Central Pool cars needed to eliminate this problem. F. Under no circumstances will a vehicle be assigned as a fringe benefit, only. Automobiles shall be assigned on the basis of the printed guidelines. . County employees, regardless of position, shall be assigned cars, only as outlined in this policy. HOME-WORK ASSIGNMENTS In all cases, where it is determined that it is to the County's advantage to have the employee take the assigned vehicle home at the end of the normal work day, it is understood that the vehicle is not to be used for personal activities. A. REPORTING TO JOB SITES RATHER THAN THE HOME OFFICE Where it is determined that it is to the County's advantage to have the employee report directly to the job site, rather than to his home office and later travel to the job site. In such cases, the dollar savings in efficiency of operation must be shown, or the need to provide an expected public service apparant. Examples are as follows: 1. If the employee normally started work at 8:30 a.m. and had to report to the office first, he would not actually start work on the job until after 9:00 a.m. (5) 2. Where the emnloyee moot ropei-L: immediately. to a job situation -during normal off-duty hours; such as a medical examiner investigator's call to a death scene, a. police official called to an emorgency, a key mainenance employee called to a water line break, e'0. 3. Where it is necessary, for the using employee, to provide spot supervision on a 24-hour per day oasis. 4. Where there are a sufficient number of regular night, weekend, and early morning meetings or contacts made, which would make it less feasible for the user to drive first to the Central Garage. Examples are: a. Serving of warrants. b. Obtaining easements. c. Meetings with other public agencies. d. Investigative work. B. ECONOMIC DETERMINATION Where it is determined that it would be more costly to the County, in terms of non-productive time spent in obtaining transportation, than it would be to have the vehicle driven home. REPORTING The Auditors shall annually report to the Finance Committee of the Oakland County Board of Commissioners, in September of each year, a detailed list of all regular assignments of County vehicles and shall, as requested by the Committee, report on the overall operations of the County fleet. (6)