SECTION 300 - USE OF COUNTY VEHICLES
I. General Provisions
A. Purpose
1. The purpose of this section is to establish general procedures for the use of County owned or leased vehicles.
2. For the purpose of these procedures, County vehicles are those County owned or leased vehicles separately administered by the General Services Department.
For information on administrative procedures for vehicles other than those administered by the General Services Department, contact the Department of Public Works.
3. All County vehicles except special purpose law enforcement vehicles and those exempted in writing by the County Administrative Officer shall be identified with an official County emblem and a control inventory number.
4. All registered vehicles, regardless of cost or value and means of acquisition, shall be considered a fixed asset and shall be subject to the fixed asset review and approval process. A form GSD-71 shall be submitted to the County Administrative Office and approved prior to purchase or acquisition of any vehicle.
5. The County Administrative Office, with Board of Supervisors approval, shall assign all vehicles with a Fleet Services category for purposes of establishing insurance coverage and maintenance replacement requirements. (see Section 300, II.A.1.)
B. Operating Requirements
1. The use and operation of County vehicles shall be in accordance with all applicable State and federal law, California Motor Vehicle rules and regulations, and Chapter 2.32 of the County Code. In addition, applicable County, Personnel Department administrative procedures, and directives of the Board of Supervisors shall at all times be followed. (Refer to Personnel Administrative Manual Title XXIII.4 - Use of County Vehicles).
II. Procedures for Use of General Services Fleet Vehicles
A. General
1. The Fleet Services Division of General Services will provide
Administrative overview, maintenance and replacement of the Service Center Fleet consistent with the following categories:
Category A - vehicles maintained and serviced by Fleet Services and incorporated into the Vehicle Replacement Schedule by Board of Supervisors directive.
Category B - vehicles maintained and serviced by Fleet Services but not incorporated into the Vehicle Replacement Schedule.
Category C - vehicles neither serviced nor maintained by Fleet Services and not incorporated into the vehicle Replacement Schedule. These vehicles are maintained by outside service contracts at the operating department's direct expense. These vehicles have a "limited useful" life for specific low mileage purposes in some County operations. Vehicles in this category will be billed separately by the County Risk Management Office for any insurance costs.
2. All vehicles are incorporated into fleet class divisions for the purpose of establishing replacement schedules, determining operational expenditures and establishing vehicle assignment criteria. Vehicle classifications are as follows:
Service
Class Description Years Mileage
GROUP 100 - SEDANS
110 Subcompact, compact sedans, 10 100,000
wagons
120 Midsize, full size sedans, wagons 10 100,000
GROUP 200 - LIGHT DUTY VEHICLES
210 Compact pickup trucks 10 100,000
220 Fullsize pickups, vans 10 100,000
230 Minivans (passenger/cargo) 10 100,000
240 4X4 pickup trucks, 4X4 Utility10 100,000
other utility
GROUP 300 - EMERGENCY VEHICLES
310 Sheriff Patrol cars 3 85,000
320 Sheriff 4X4 pickups/utility 6 50,000
330 Sheriff/DA undercover sedans 6 80,000
340 Sheriff 15 Passenger Bus 3 120,000
350 Sheriff redeployed vehicles 2 120,000
GROUP 400 - HEAVY DUTY VEHICLES
410 Dump Trucks 12 100,000
420 Box Vans 12 100,000
B. Permanent Vehicle Assignments
1. The County Administrative Officer shall approve all departmental requests for permanent vehicle assignments of General Services vehicles.
a. All newly assigned and replacement vehicle purchases shall be environmentally friendly “green vehicles” unless otherwise approved by the CAO. “Green vehicles” are: electric, hybrid electric/gasoline, flex fuel such as gasoline/ethanol or any other alternatively fueled and powered vehicle designed to normally operate with zero or minimal detrimental environmental impacts.
b. The County Administrative Office will recommend the assignment of vehicles to a department based on demonstrated need by a department in order to carry out department activities.
c. The department head will be responsible for assignment of vehicles within the department and shall ensure that all assignments to individuals are in accordance with all County codes, policies, procedures or existing labor agreements.
2. The County Administrative office may reassign vehicles between departments or functions based on overall County priorities and needs. General Services may exchange same class assigned vehicles between departments to provide for optimum utilization of the overall fleet and as outlined in B4 below.
3. The assignment and reassignment of vehicles will be based on the following general criteria:
a. All Group (Class 110 and Class 120) and Class 210 vehicles must be driven a minimum of 7,000 miles per year on County business to ensure continued assignment.
b. All Group 200 (excluding Class 210), Group 300 and Group 400 vehicles are assigned based on department's justification that; 1) vehicles are necessary to carry out operation activities and 2) no other reasonable alternative is available including the use of less expensive Group 100 and Class 210 vehicles.
Continued assignment of Group 200 (excluding Class 210) vehicles will require an annual request and justification to the County Administrative Officer in conjunction with the budget preparation process.
4. Sport Utility Vehicle Assignments
Group 240 and 340 vehicles are defined as 4x4 Pickups and 4x4 Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs). Departments shall justify Group 240 and 340 vehicles pursuant to B.3 above. Departments must seek CAO approval to purchase or replace a 4x4 or 4x2 Sports Utility Vehicle.
Exemption: Alternatively powered SUVs such as hybrid (electric/gasoline) or electric, are exempt from requiring CAO approval as they meet the County’s policy for the utilization of green vehicles as described in Section B.1.a of these procedures.
5. Mid Year Changes in Class
The Fleet manager is authorized to make short term changes in classes of vehicles in order to accommodate a department's changes in program needs or adjustments needed to maximize utilization of vehicles. If such changes extend beyond the end of the fiscal year in which they were initiated, and changes were made at the request of the department to meet program needs, it will be the department's responsibility to submit a GSD-71 with their budget request and receive County Administrative Office approval for the change in class. The County Administrative Office will be advised of all assigned vehicle changes in class made by the Fleet Manager on an ongoing basis.
Mid year changes in class will be charged based on the class of vehicle assigned. Permanent changes to vehicle class with higher replacement cost will require funding from the requesting department for the cost differential in vehicles.
6. Reduction of Vehicle Assignments
If a Department has reduced its vehicle needs and turns in an assigned vehicle which is on the replacement program the following criteria will apply: 1) the department will receive a grace period for the remainder of that fiscal year during which time they can submit a GSD-71 and request an additional vehicle of the same class without having to fund the initial cost of the vehicle; 2) requests beyond the fiscal year will be treated as a new request which will require funding for the initial vehicle purchase and 3) requests during the same fiscal year will be subject to availability of the vehicle and approval of an additional vehicle request by the County Administrative Officer.
Departments with vehicle needs which fluctuate during the year should use pool vehicles or other outside options such as short term vehicle rental programs to meet peak demand periods.
C. Regular Overnight Vehicle Assignment
1. All overnight vehicle assignments shall be in compliance with at least one of the criterion below:
a. An employee in paid on-call status who is required to respond to emergency conditions with a vehicle specially equipped to meet the work needs of the department.
b. An employee who reports to the field rather than his/her office headquarters at least 50% of his/her scheduled work days and the employee lives more than ten miles from headquarters.
c. Law enforcement personnel such as Sheriff's Office investigators and District Attorney inspectors routinely required to respond to crime scenes or to pursue investigatory leads outside of normal business hours when use of a personal vehicle would be inappropriate.
2. Overnight vehicle assignments to employees residing outside the geographic boundaries of Santa Cruz County must have prior approval of the County Administrative Office. Such approval must be maintained by the respective department.
3. Each department head will be responsible for ensuring any overnight vehicle assignment is in accordance with all County codes, policies, procedures or existing labor agreements.
4. In special circumstances, department heads may, upon demonstration of need, request and obtain from the County Administrative Officer written exceptions to these guidelines. Such exceptions must be retained on file with the department.
D. Annual Review
Annually, on or before June 30, the County Administrative Officer shall review the permanent and overnight vehicle assignments to assure conformance with these guidelines.
E. Temporary Overnight Vehicle Assignment
On official trips, vehicles may be taken home overnight before or after the trip if, and only if, the trip begins or ends outside regular working hours.
F. Pool Vehicle Use/Assignment
1. General Services maintains a "pool" of County vehicles for assignment to departments with a limited or short-term need.
2. Pool vehicles are available at the Fleet Operations Center located at 691 Ocean Street and Emeline campus.
3. Pool vehicles are generally checked out for one to three days. Vehicles may be checked out for more than three consecutive days up to a maximum of thirty (30) days by a request submitted at least two weeks in advance to Fleet Services, stating time period needed, number of persons using vehicle, purpose, destination, and date and time of expected return. Since the quantity of pool vehicles is limited, requests will be filled at the discretion of the Director of General Services, or his/her designee.
4. Pool Vehicle Check Out Procedures
a) In order for Fleet Operations to dispatch a pool vehicle, operators must provide name, phone number or extension, destination, budget index number and a valid California driver’s license. A pool vehicle will not be dispatched without ALL information being provided.
b) Upon the return of a pool vehicle, operators are required to:
1.) Park vehicle in one of the designated Fleet parking areas.
2.) Note the return mileage and vehicle parking location on the pink dispatch slip.
3.) Return Pool Car keys and pink dispatch slip to Fleet Operations
5. Designated Pool Car Parking Area
a) Detailed maps and written descriptions will be posted inside and outside of the Fleet Operations office.
b) Designated Pool parking areas are:
1.) The areas adjacent to Fleet Operations marked A, B, C and D.
2.) The Front Row of the main parking lot at 701 Ocean Street.
3.) If needed, the 2-hour diagonal spaces in the main parking lot. In the event that not of the above mentioned parking locations are available, park the pool vehicle diagonally in front of one of the shop doors at Fleet Operations.
c) Pool vehicles shall not be parked in Employee Only numbered parking spaces in the main parking lot; blocking the fuel pumps at Fleet Operations or any place not designated for fleet parking.
d) Vehicle operators shall be liable for citations or towing charges resulting from parking a pool vehicle in an unauthorized parking area.
G. Policy on Fleet Rates
The General Services Department Fleet Services Division is operated as an Internal Service Fund with annual operating, vehicle replacement and/or depreciation costs charged back to operating departments. Fleet rates charged to departments will be established by the Board of Supervisors and will be subject to review and revisions annually in conjunction with the budget preparation process.
H. Additional Vehicles
Departments requesting additional vehicles shall budget for the purchase cost of new vehicles plus annual operating/replacement costs in accordance with annual budget instructions from the County Administrative Office. General Services does not budget for additional vehicles and will be unable to supply vehicles unless the original purchase cost and annual operating costs are approved in the budget of the requesting department. Requests for additional vehicles shall be submitted with a GSD-71 form as provided for in the budget instructions.
I. Vehicle Replacement
As long as a department continues to meet the minimum mileage utilization or specialty vehicle requirements, a scheduled Category A vehicle will be replaced as funding is available based upon the mileage or service life criteria, whichever comes first, as stated in Section 300, II.A.1 of this procedure.
J. Redeployment of Sheriff’s Vehicles
Vehicles on the replacement schedule are typically removed from service when they meet replacement criteria. There are situations, however, when the vehicles would still have useful life if placed into an alternative service category. In these situations, the vehicle may be reassigned under the following conditions.
1. The practice of redeploying Sheriff’s vehicles is intended to prolong and maximize the usefulness and life of fleet vehicles in an economic, efficient and safe manner. All redeployed vehicles shall be full depreciated prior to redeployment. A vehicle that is redeployed will replace a vehicle currently assigned to the Sheriff’s Office. The replaced vehicle will be retired and disposed of per the regular surplus property disposition procedures.
2. Sheriff’s patrol sedans, class 310, will remain in regular service prior to possible redeployment for three years or 85,000 miles, whichever comes first. Sheriff’s patrol 4x4 pickups/utility vehicles, (Class 320) will remain in regular service prior to possible redeployment for six years or 50,000miles, whichever comes first. Each class of patrol vehicle may be redeployed at the end of their expected service to an assignment involving less mileage, high speed chase potential, etc. (such as Service Center assignment, School Resource Officer, Community Resource Officer) for an additional two years or maximum of 120,000 miles.
3. Redeployed vehicles will be assigned to Class 350, Category B, and will be maintained and serviced by Fleet Services as part of the County fleet. Redeployed vehicles will be billed to the Sheriff’s Office at the same rate as Class 330, Category B, non-replacement vehicles.
4. Any modifications or work needed to accommodate the new use would be at the expense of the user department.
K. Accident Repair/Routine Services and Repairs
It is the goal of the County to maintain a fleet of vehicles, which portray a professional image of County operations to the public. In an effort to achieve this goal, both major and minor body damage to vehicles will normally be repaired unless the vehicle is near the end of its useful life or repair costs exceed the value of the vehicle.
Should a County vehicle be involved in an accident where the cost of the repair/replacement is not recoverable, the department to which the vehicle is assigned will be billed for the cost of repair or for the replacement cost above the vehicle's depreciated value. Expense recovery for vehicles involved in accidents where the driver of the "other" vehicle is found to be at fault will be pursued through County Risk Management.
The General Services Department, Fleet Operations Division, will provide service due stickers on the dashboard of each vehicle maintained indicating the mileage reading when the next servicing is due. It is the responsibility of each operator and department to check the service sticker and notify Fleet Operations when a vehicle requires periodic maintenance. It is also the responsibility of each operator and department to immediately notify fleet operations whenever a mechanical malfunction is suspected and/or immediately when safety hazards are suspected. Malfunctions should be reported to Fleet Operations using a vehicle malfunction report form.
When vehicles receive regularly scheduled maintenance by General Services, they will receive a routine safety inspection and any safety repairs will be completed prior to returning the vehicle to service.
It is each department's responsibility to report assigned vehicle mileage to the Fleet Services Division no later than the third working day of each quarter.
L. Maintenance Inspection of Category C Vehicles
All Category C vehicles shall have an annual safety inspection carried out by a qualified service provider. Fleet Services will advise departments when such an inspection is due, which will be eleven (11) months after the last inspection. A copy of the inspection report shall be provided to the General Services Fleet Services Manager. The Fleet Services Manager shall be responsible for review of the inspection report and to make recommendations regarding required maintenance for continued operation of the vehicle. If, in the opinion of the Fleet Services Manager, the vehicle is unsafe for continued operation, this will be noted in the recommendations. A copy of these recommendations will be provided to the department head responsible for the vehicle and a copy will be provided to the County Administrative Office.
Category "C" vehicles which are determined to be unsafe for continued operation or which would incur repair costs which exceed the value of the vehicle are to be removed from service by the operating department. When a Category "C" vehicle is removed form service, it will not be replaced and it is the operating department's responsibility to plan for and provide alternative transportation needs. Should the department wish to replace such a vehicle with another Category "C" vehicle, it will be treated as an additional vehicle and require submittal of a GSD-71 and Board approval.
M. Vehicles Requiring Tow Services
Contact Fleet Operations Center at (831) 454-2774 for the current vehicle towing procedures.
N. Surplus Vehicles/Donations to Non-Profit Organizations
General Services fleet vehicles will be replaced and disposed of when they can no longer be maintained and operated by the County of Santa Cruz in a cost efficient manner. Fleet Services will evaluate all General Services surplus vehicles for possible use by County of Santa Cruz Community Services Non-profit Agencies. Those vehicles found not suitable for the Surplus Vehicles to Non-profit Agency Program will be disposed of at auction. Surplus vehicles will be evaluated on a continual basis by General Services Fleet Division and disposed of at least quarterly, on approval of the Board of Supervisors, either by donation to non-profit agencies or at auction.