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Clay County approves lease of 10 sheriff vehicles; five to be sold at auction
Summary
The county authorized a 10-unit vehicle leasing plan for the sheriff’s office — five new leases and five renewals — and will auction five county-owned vehicles. Finance and equipment-transfer details were discussed.
Clay County commissioners approved May 13 a plan from the sheriff’s office to lease 10 vehicles through Enterprise Leasing, sell five older vehicles at auction and transfer equipment between traded units.
The sheriff told the board the proposal combines five new leases with renewals for five currently leased units and that the county intends to sell five vehicles at auction and return five units to Enterprise for resale. “We’re gonna be selling 5 of our vehicles at our auction and then 5 of them will be turned over to Enterprise to be sold,” the sheriff said during the presentation.
The county finance and sheriff’s staff outlined the funding mechanics. The sheriff reported an internal-service-fund balance of about $253,914 available for vehicle needs and an Enterprise estimate of about $136,332 for the 10 units. Staff noted Enterprise’s initial monthly estimates historically skewed higher than actual charges, and said current estimated lease rates are lower than last year’s estimates.
Commissioners asked about upfit costs and equipment transfers. The sheriff said much equipment — radios, cameras and radars — usually transfers between like-model vehicles, keeping upfit costs lower. “For example, this year, we went from a 2021 Tahoe to a 2024 Tahoe and everything was able to transfer over. So the cost to upfit that Tahoe was about $6,000,” he said. If transfers are incomplete, he said, upfit costs can rise to about $15,000–$18,000 per vehicle.
Commissioners also confirmed that proceeds from vehicle sales return to the internal-service fund. One commissioner asked whether the leases would put most fleet vehicles onto lease — the sheriff said the program would cover a majority but not the entire fleet.
A motion to approve lease arrangements for the 10 vehicles and the plan to sell five county vehicles at auction passed by voice vote. The motion was made by Commissioner Evers and seconded by Commissioner Kravenhoff. No roll-call tally was recorded in the minutes; the board recorded the vote as “aye” and the chair declared the motion carried.
The sheriff also told the board the department recently passed an annual compliance review by the Minnesota POST Board. "This week I received notification that the sheriff's department passed their review," the sheriff said, and commissioners commended the department.
Next steps: the sheriff’s office will finalize lease terms with Enterprise, proceed with vehicle upfits and schedule the auction of the identified units. Proceeds from the auctions will go back into the internal-service fund to offset future vehicle replacement costs.
