Board approves revising fleet billing
EL CENTRO — The Imperial County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved changing the funding mechanism for Fleet Service to ensure the operation will remain sustainable.
Currently, county departments pay Fleet Services monthly mileage fees determined according to vehicle type. These mileage rates range from 36 cents a mile for sedans and mid-size trucks to 46 cents a mile for full-size trucks and sport utility vehicles.
Come October, which is the beginning of the county’s fiscal year, departments will pay a flat monthly fee per vehicle, depending on vehicle category.
In a typical year, county employees rack up more than 5 million miles on the road. However, the pandemic has revealed the flaw in the mileage-based funding system. For the current fiscal year it has dropped to 4.3 million miles, creating a shortfall for the department.
To ensure consistency in the department’s funding, the supervisors approved Fleet Services Manager Stephan Lobstein’s proposal to switch the reimbursement or to a flat rate per vehicle.
For instance, the 122 mid-size sedans in the county’s fleet would be billed at a monthly rate of $348 per vehicle. That would contribute $42,456 per month or a little more than $509,000 for the fiscal year.
The monthly rate for the county’s 77 full-size trucks would be $822 for each truck. The monthly rate for its 65 sports utility vehicles would be $667 each.
Lobstein told the supervisors that while the plan may not be perfect, it will be a lot easier to manage. He added other organizations, including the Imperial Irrigation District, use this model.
He said he conducts a fleet right-sizing evaluation annually to determine if county vehicles meet minimum use guidelines.
The minimum use guidelines apply to most vehicles to ensure departments are getting the optimal use of vehicles.
Fleet Services is an internal service fund. In essence, it leases vehicles to the other departments within the county. It collects revenue monthly from the departments that are assigned vehicles for sustaining all components of fleet operations.
In the general fund, the Sheriff’s Office will have 130 vehicles and an annual cost of $1.03 million, while Behavioral Health in the non-general fund would have 71 vehicles with an annual cost of almost $331,000.
Of the $ 2.9 million in Fleet Services expenditures, $ 1.1 million of that was for fuel and $400,000 was for salaries and benefits.
“Fuel is a big item to a fleet.” he said. “It is very volatile.” Most gas stations in the county are charging more than $4 a gallon.
Besides making it difficult to project budgets, mileage fees are an unstable funding source, Lobstein said. They encourage underutilization and result in delays in replacing vehicles, which reflects negatively on the county’s image.
The benefits he told the supervisors include simplified budgeting, stable funding, proactive vehicle management, reduction of underutilized vehicles and increased vehicle reliability.
He also said the monthly flat rate will reduce unscheduled maintenance, reduce vehicle down times, reduce harmful emissions, reduce safety concerns and reduce exposure to liability.