New rules for county vehicles expected

Adrienne Packer

Monday, Oct. 23, 2000 | 11:25 a.m.

New guidelines governing Clark County employees' use of government-issued vehicles are expected to be implemented next month, more than a year after an internal audit showed some departments have taken advantage of the privilege.

The audit, conducted in October 1999, says managers and supervisors who don't respond to emergencies were issued 24-hour vehicles. Other employees drive vehicles more lavish than needed, the audit says.

"This practice results in significant unnecessary expense to the county and increased liability in the event of accidents," wrote Jeremiah Carroll, director of the Internal Audit Department.

Along with more stringent guidelines expected to be put in place Nov. 1, a new Vehicle Review Committee will be assembled to oversee the policy.

After department heads review employees' requests for vehicles, they will be forwarded to the committee made up of Carroll, assistant county managers Mike Alastuey, Rick Holmes and finance director George Stevens.

Administrative officials said the yearlong lapse between the time audit results were released and when the guidelines were created was due to a lengthy review process.

"We don't know all the issues the departments have," said county spokesman Doug Bradford. "We wanted to make sure we weren't taking vehicles away when they weren't given the opportunity to tell us why they needed them."

In the audit, Carroll recommends that County Manager Dale Askew "direct an immediate review" of the vehicle assignments. Askew admitted the county should have moved more quickly after the audit was released.

"We could have moved faster and probably should have," he said.

Once the guidelines are finished and implemented, dozens of Clark County employees will likely be stripped of their government vehicles.

The hardest hit departments will be the Public Works Department and the Department of Aviation, which had the bulk of the 79 vehicles issued for 24-hour use.

The audit shows that in 1998, the Public Works division had 40 vehicles, including two Chevrolet Tahoes -- the vehicles the auditor noted are the more expensive sport utility models.

Twenty-three vehicles were issued to McCarran International Airport staff.

Bradford said even though the guidelines have yet to be completed, those two departments have begun shedding some of their vehicles, most of which will be auctioned off.

"They'll just have to grin and bare it because that's the way it is," Bradford said. "They're just going to have to prove to the committee that there is a dire need for the vehicles. Going out once or twice a year on an emergency doesn't justify having an emergency vehicle."

The most important element of the new policy will be the department head's scrutiny of each request. The audit says managers didn't study the requests, and the former committee was lax in issuing the vehicles without investigating whether the employee responds to emergencies.

"After review of available records of actual emergency responses, we estimate that as many as 60 of the 79 vehicles listed on the automotive's records as being authorized 24-hour vehicles are not really needed for that purpose," the audit says.

Carroll notes that the county unnecessarily is paying significant additional costs for fuel and maintenance of the vehicles.

The 1999 audit wasn't the first time the county's use of emergency vehicles was studied. In 1990 the Vehicle Review Committee looked at all vehicle assignments and removed 71 from circulation.

The Public Works Department kept 27 emergency vehicles and the Fire Department kept an unknown number, the audit says.

After the review employees again began submitting requests for their 24-hour vehicles. Since 1990, 52 of those 70 vehicles have been reinstated, according to the audit.

Bradford said the county is studying alternative methods to allow county employees who respond to emergencies infrequently to access vehicles when needed. He said one option is to park the vehicles at satellite offices.

"Departments are taking a new look at what they're doing," he said.