Bonner County leans toward ending general‑fund motor pool; board calls for vehicle-by-department accounting

Bonner County commissioners reviewed charges in the general fund for motor-pool fuel and repairs and discussed disbanding the county motor pool in favor of department-specific vehicle allocations.

Staff identified a general-fund line that has paid motor-pool gasoline and maintenance and flagged that some departments have not been allocated ongoing maintenance authority. Commissioners expressed a preference to have departments that regularly use vehicles hold and fund those vehicles directly in their budgets, with occasional rentals used by departments with infrequent vehicle needs.

Why it matters: commissioners said a centrally managed motor pool lacks clear policy or management and creates accounting opacity when vehicle fuel and repair charges are billed to a generic general-fund line. They noted vehicle disposition depends on how the vehicles were originally purchased—some must be surplused or auctioned rather than simply transferred between departments.

Staff recommended either formally structuring and staffing a motor-pool program (which carries overhead) or reallocating existing fleet vehicles to departments and funding ongoing fuel and maintenance from departmental budgets. The board favored disbanding the generic motor-pool fund and directed staff to prepare an inventory of motor-pool vehicles, identify purchase/lease restrictions, and propose a transition plan that includes how to handle current fuel and repair lines during the change.

Ending: No formal vote was taken; staff to return with a vehicle-by-vehicle analysis, lease/ownership constraints and proposed budget-line reallocations.