The McLeod County Board rejected the purchase of two used vehicles last week, even though it previously allocated $52,000 for the purchase.
The vehicles were intended for the general fleet, which has diminished by five vehicles since 2019 and for which no replacements have been added.
“We’ve talked in the past about reducing our general fleet, which we’ve done,” County Administrator Sheila Murphy said. “That does not mean that we would not ever ask for a vehicle to be purchased again. So I hope we never gave that impression from administration. We need to replace vehicles when warranted, to keep our staff safe when they need to be using the vehicles to perform the duties of their jobs.”
Certain departments, such as child protection, recommend against using personal vehicles to prevent potential identification and ensure safety of personnel, Murphy said.
“Child protection should not be taking their own vehicles to a child protection call if they don’t need to or if there are any risks involved,” she said.
Commissioner Doug Krueger noted he was “happy” with the reduced fleet.
“I’m having a hard time being able to rationalize or accept the need of two vehicles,” he said.
Murphy reminded the board that administration recommended purchasing two used vehicles for the price of one new one.
“If they were not necessary, we would not be asking for them,” she said. “Our staff needs them.”
Facilities supervisor Spencer Bauer noted that two other vehicles in the general fleet, a 2006 Chevy Trailblazer and 2012 Ford Escape, were getting near the end of their lives.
The general fleet has 13 vehicles which are used by various departments such as, facilities, health and human services, assessor, administration, economic development, environmental services, finance, public works and veteran services.
Krueger questioned where the money was coming from.
“It was actually allocated last year, and we decided to wait,” Murphy said. “We didn’t purchase a vehicle with the $52,000 and then asked if we could use the budget to carry over to this year to purchase the vehicles because they’re needed. That money’s been moving every year without being used since 2019.”
The delay saved more than $200,000 in comparison to typical fleet replacement purchases, Murphy said.
“This was approved during the budgeting process, and it would typically purchase one vehicle with that amount of cost,” Murphy said. “We said, let’s look at used vehicles with warranties remaining.”
Murphy and Bauer looked at more than 35 vehicles at six dealerships. The vehicles requested were two 2021 Ford Escapes, one with 11,827 miles and the other with 21,831 miles at a combined cost of $49,978. Both vehicles have a four-year or 100,000 warranty left on engines, transmissions and drive axles.
“Two vehicles have twice as much wear and tear as one,” Krueger said. “There’s still the cost of maintaining them.”
Due to Minnesota’s changing weather conditions, Murphy expressed the need for all wheel drive. She noted in the past the county bought front wheel drive and hoped it would not snow.
“That’s just not realistic,” she said. “Last year we had a terrible snowstorm on a workday, just for instance. I know that several county vehicles, including law enforcement vehicles, were in the ditch.”
Commissioner Daryl Luthens asked why administration requested the vehicles now.
The sale of a 2007 Chevy Impala in November left the assessor’s office down to one vehicle, while another vehicle used by social services has accumulated 152,000 miles, Bauer said. The plan is to transfer the social services vehicle to the assessor for local use, while one of the new vehicles would be assigned to cover longer-distance trips to locations like Rochester, Willmar and Marshall, optimizing the allocation of higher-mileage vehicles for local purposes.
Chairman Paul Wright suggested the board was uncertain about the actual number of vehicles needed in the general fleet and proposed to have a workshop to assess the need.
“(I’m) unsure, how much do we need those cars?” he said. “How much are employees using their own, and I don’t have an answer to that … sounds like there’s a lot of questions up here about vehicles. It looks like these are used, so that means that they can come in bulk at any time. But I don’t sense that the biggest question is the price tag. The biggest question is the need and where are the vehicles today?”
Murphy advised the board that county staff researched and deemed it appropriate to purchase new vehicles.
“We did all of that work last year and continue to do it,” she said. “There’s the need. That’s why we’re bringing it. This is a reduced fleet without these two vehicles replacing the ones we’ve gotten rid of. We don’t have enough vehicles for people to take. We’re short, so I don’t want to give the misperception that we’re asking you to buy in advance. This is a reactive purchase.”
Administration’s review included mileage, vehicle use, budget committee review, considerations from union negotiations, and employee handbook review, according to Murphy.
“This is the need that has been determined,” she said. “So if you to need put it off, then we will just have to redo the process, and we will be short vehicles.
“We have given a lot of energy to reducing that fleet, making responsible decisions, but that doesn’t mean that we should be sending our employees out to do duties that are mandated and needed without the necessary equipment” Murphy added.
The motion died for a lack of a second vote. It was approved to be put on as a workshop item in the future.
