Supervisors adopt updated county vehicle-use policy; board to track take-home cars annually

Supervisors approved an updated Washington County vehicle-use policy designed to simplify language, consolidate prior policies and clarify expectations for county vehicle use.

The update keeps existing rules about fleet cars, carpool vehicles and assigned take-home vehicles but places a clearer emphasis on employees’ responsibilities and budgetary oversight. The county administrator explained that the updates were largely wording and consolidation changes and are intended to point employees to a single policy reference instead of scattered handbook sections.

Officials discussed tax reporting for take-home vehicles. As described at the meeting, the county charges a notional daily taxable benefit (reported as $3 per day in the meeting) for assigned take-home vehicles; departments report usage to payroll so the taxable benefit can be reflected on paychecks and taxed for Social Security and Medicare. The administrator said that reporting is quarterly and that assigned positions (for example, foremen) typically show the highest usage.

The board also clarified the difference between vehicles assigned to individuals — which require formal approval and are treated as taxable benefits — and fleet or department vehicles, which departments can allow staff to take home for short-term operational reasons without a separate county-level approval. Supervisors requested and the administrator agreed to provide an updated list of who has take-home vehicles; the board asked that list be delivered to the finance committee annually (or at a cadence the committee prefers) so the public and board members can review assignments.

A motion to adopt the updated policy was made and approved during the meeting.

Ending: The policy will be implemented with existing payroll and reporting processes; staff will deliver an updated take-home-vehicle list to finance for annual review.