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Council moves forward with police take‑home vehicle program; MOA with union, mileage rules discussed
Summary
Council approved the take‑home vehicle program with a memorandum of agreement (MOA) negotiated with Law Enforcement Labor Services; the MOA includes language preventing the MOA from creating a past practice and sets a mileage reimbursement approach tied to fuel costs (roughly IRS medical mileage). Council discussed fairness of mileage thresholds.
The Isanti City Council approved a take‑home vehicle program for police officers and a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Law Enforcement Labor Services union that sets terms for the program and limits future claims that the MOA creates a permanent contractual benefit.
Police staff presented the program and said the city attorney recommended an MOA to document the arrangement with the union; the MOA was signed by the union. The MOA includes explicit language stating it shall not create a past practice or precedent that can be cited in future negotiations or proceedings. “This MOA shall not create any past practice or precedent…may not be used as evidence in negotiations, arbitrations, or any other proceeding,” the staff summary said, and staff said the clause was inserted at the attorney’s recommendation to protect the city’s flexibility.
Councilors discussed how to handle mileage reimbursement and fairness. Staff recommended basing mileage reimbursement on a fuel‑only rate similar to the IRS medical mileage rate rather than the standard IRS mileage rate that also accounts for depreciation. The staff rationale was that depreciation is not an appropriate reimbursement when officers are compensated separately for vehicle replacement and fleet depreciation; staff said the fuel‑only approach would reimburse fuel costs but not vehicle depreciation.
Council members raised fairness concerns about distance thresholds (city personnel policy currently refers to a 15‑mile threshold). One councilor proposed an alternate approach — a flat weekly mileage allowance for all officers (for example, 50 miles per week) to avoid small differences in distance producing different outcomes. Staff noted the council’s personnel policy already uses a 15‑mile measure, and staff said the MOA’s term runs through the end of the calendar year to give the city time to evaluate program impacts on fleet management.
The MOA also addresses policy details such as securing firearms in vehicles and includes a plan to add a matching policy to the city’s Lexipol policy system. Staff said the MOU/MOA will expire at year end and that the city has authority to terminate an individual officer’s take‑home privileges for cause.
Council approved the take‑home program as presented; staff said they will gather usage and mileage data over the year to inform any adjustments to fleet lifecycle planning.
