City take-home vehicles scrutinized

Written byJen Lebron Kuhney

Auditor suggests $700,000 in savings in the program

San Diego could save more than $700,000 annually on its take-home vehicle fleet by creating a more stringent review process for its costs and reducing the number of vehicles used by nearly a third, according to a report from the city auditor.
Mayor Jerry Sanders’ office plans to move forward with the suggestions, but won’t be able to implement them until the city negotiates with its labor unions.
The June report showed the city uses 347 take-home vehicles in its fleet of about 4,200 vehicles. More than 90 percent of the vehicles taken out overnight are used by public safety personnel.
The vehicles, which include cars, trucks, SUVs and motorcycles, are supposed to be used for emergencies. However, the report showed the city spent approximately $2.1 million on commuting costs alone for police and fire department take-home vehicles in the last fiscal year.
To reduce the costs, the audit suggested the city remove 76 police and fire vehicles from take-home duty for $569,000 in annual savings.
The report also suggested the departments review the necessity of an additional 23 vehicles. Eliminating the extra vehicles could save the city an additional $149,000 a year, according to the report.
The chiefs of the police and fire departments expressed their support of the plan to shave the take-home vehicle costs, but both departments expressed concern that the number of calls to emergencies was being considered when deciding whether a vehicle should remain part of the off-duty fleet.
“We can’t predict when the next earthquake or the next blackout or the next emergency or critical incident is going to happen,” Assistant Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman said. “It could be at 3 in the afternoon or 3 a.m. Our responsibility is to be mission-ready.”
Councilwoman Lorie Zapf said she wants to see the vehicles removed from the take-home fleet before the budget cycle set to begin on July 1, 2012.
“We want these little pots of money to spend on more police officers and more public safety rather than this money being used to get to and from the store or take the kids to school and such,” she said.
One of the concerns is the significant commute costs for some employees. The auditor’s report used a sample of 72 drivers to conduct its study and found seven lived outside of the county, between 53 and 69 miles from work.
“We have to make sure we are using these resources in prudent ways,” Councilwoman Marti Emerald said, adding the city needs to make sure it reduces the fleet responsibly.
The audit reported there were savings to be had aside from the 99 vehicles.
The report found the city paid approximately $212,000 to maintain, fuel and insure 15 vehicles operated by San Diego Medical Services, a city partner. Chris Constantin, a member of the City Auditor’s Department, said that the city would be reimbursed for the past costs and the city would not need to cover any similar costs in the future under the new contract with its partner negotiated earlier this year.
Though it has less of an impact on the city budget than other items discussed in the report, the use of the fuel cards for the take-home vehicles is one of the items that will be analyzed by the mayor’s office.
The audit showed Fire-Rescue employees used the fuel cards at private gas stations when less-expensive city fueling locations were nearby, costing the city $2,685 in the last fiscal year.
The auditor recommended departments review all transactions on the cards on a monthly basis to prevent misuse.
The City Council discussed the options Monday and unanimously approved the report’s recommendations.
Even with the council’s full support, the recommendations cannot go into effect until the city goes through negotiations with labor unions.
Assistant Chief Operating Officer Wally Hill said he expects many of the audit committee’s suggestions to be implemented by Jan. 1, 2012.