Each year, the Public Works Department Fleet Services Manager has analyzed the fleet and annual vehicle usage and made recommendations to the IOC on the budget year vehicle replacements and on the intra-County reassignment of underutilized vehicles, in accordance with County policy. In FY 2008/09, the Board approved the establishment of an
Internal Services Fund (ISF) for the County Fleet, to be administered by Public Works (formerly by the General Services Department). The Board requested the IOC to review annually the Public Works department report on the fleet and on low-mileage vehicles.
On September 9, 2013, the IOC accepted a preliminary annual report from the Public Works department and requested the Fleet Manager to return in March 2014 with final recommendations on the disposition of low mileage vehicles. The Fleet Manager, in March 2014, identified 44 low mileage vehicles out of 893 vehicles in the Internal Services Fund Fleet. In February, 2015, the IOC approved the Fleet Manager's recommendation to install GPS telemetrics devices on 12 of the 44 low mileage vehicles (see attached report), and also asked the Auditor's Office to examine the extent to which the County's Clean Air Vehicles Policy was being observed.
The Chief Auditor, in July 2015, reported that as of February 28, 2015, 18% of the fleet were clean air vehicles, 36.2% were not clean air vehicles but were exempted by the policy or by the Fleet Manager, and 45.8% were not exempt and not in compliance with the clean air vehicle policy (see attached report). The Fleet Manager emphasized his commitment to downsizing the fleet and right-sizing County vehicles. The Committee asked the Fleet Manager to update the 2008 County Clean Air Vehicle Policy to also to reflect current technology such as electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, and current funding incentives, and to segregate large construction vehicles from regular trucks and sedans in future reports to make the statistical reporting more meaningful.
In follow-up to the Committee's direction in July, the Public Works Department reported back to the IOC in October with recommendations for modifying the County's Vehicle and Equipment Acquisition and Replacement Policy, and Clean Air Vehicle Policy and Goals. Public Works reported that there are over 1,500 vehicles in the fleet, 859 of which are in the Internal Services Fund (ISF), and that of the 89 vehicles purchased in FY 2013/14, 9 were hybrids (a combination of gas and electric). 22% of the ISF fleet are clean/cleaner air vehicles. The department continues to install asset management and locating devices in ISF vehicles to promote good decision making and optimization of the ISF fleet.
Attached are recommended changes to the County's Vehicle and Equipment Acquisition Policy and Clean Air Vehicle Policy and Goals. The primary impact of the proposed changes is to commit to a goal of procuring the most fuel efficient and lowest emission vehicles that meet the essential vehicle requirements and specifications of departments. The policy vests authority with the Fleet Manager to determine when exemptions from the policy may be warranted.