Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon has imposed a six-month freeze on new county vehicle purchases — time enough for a task force to study how efficiently the fleet is being used.
Corroon's announcement Monday comes close to a primary recommendation of a citizens' review panel convened in the wake of "Guzzle-gate" last summer.
That group had recommended an independent study of vehicle usage. But, citing the cost involved, Corroon said his task force would be kept in-house.
"We weren't really up to spending another quarter-million to do another outside study," he said.
Corroon estimated the internal task force would cost $20,000 to $25,000.
Citizens' review panel member Gil Miller said while he applauded Corroon's move, keeping the task force in-house is a mistake.
"The beautiful thing about the panel was that the county couldn't control our conclusions," he said. "If (the task force) is not independent, the county, bless their hearts, can massage the results to something palatable to everyone involved."
Miller said he'd be the first to admit he's wrong if the task force comes back with "a report that's just what the doctor ordered," but he's not holding his breath.
County public works director John Patterson, who will head up the task force, said he would leave "no stone unturned" in studying how to make the fleet more efficient.
The task force's primary mandates will be to come up with a way to make sure vehicles are being used efficiently (deadline April 30) and then to determine whether the county's "rapid rotation" program, by which cars and light trucks are bought and sold every year or two (deadline July 31), is cost-effective.
In its Dec. 22 report, the citizens' review panel, already generally negative toward the county's fleet practices, directed particular criticism toward the county's "under- utilization" of vehicles — vehicles that are purchased and then not used much before being rotated out and replaced with new ones.
County fleet manager Nick Morgan has repeatedly complained about underutilization, but his ability to do anything about it has been limited since, in large part, the county departments ordering the vehicles from fleet management are themselves in charge of determining how many they need.
"I think we're going to have to give more authority to fleet to do that," Councilman Joe Hatch said, but added there is virtue in the departments having at least some input. "The last thing we want is fleet management making decisions and then a sheriff's deputy not having the equipment he needs when he needs to use it."
The citizens' review panel also concluded the county's rapid rotation of vehicles — a unique practice that recently won the county an award — was not proven to save money over the more traditional practice of keeping vehicles several years before turning them over.
Corroon said the task force's study will certainly result in some reduction of the 1,200-1,300-vehicle fleet, though the results of the rapid rotation study remain to be seen.
"I am prepared to make changes — radical changes, if necessary — to right-size the fleet," he said. Nevertheless, "We're not getting out of the used car business. It's just when we will sell them."
Patterson said the task force also will address "vehicle creep" — the tendency to get more and fancier vehicles as the years roll on.
"This fleet, over time, has grown and grown and grown," he said. "Practices have outpaced policy."
E-mail: aedwards@desnews.com