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Sheriff's vehicle replacements deferred; county to study leasing and use prior-year savings for equipment purchases
Summary
Commissioners agreed to defer a planned vehicle replacement program and asked staff to pursue a leasing RFP and allow the sheriff to purchase needed nonrecurring items from remaining FY16 balances. The sheriff's office presented a 60-month lease quote and county staff cited a multi-year pattern of returned funds.
St. Mary's County commissioners agreed to defer a planned FY17 replacement of patrol vehicles and directed staff to pursue further analysis of leasing versus exempt financing after receiving a cost estimate from a vendor.
Aaron, a representative from the sheriff's office, presented a cost quote from Acme Auto Leasing for Ford Interceptor utility vehicles. He said the 60-month lease option produced a monthly cost per vehicle of about $1,023 in the vendor quote, which, when multiplied across the 33 vehicles in the request, produced an estimated five-year lease expense of approximately $475,308; an exempt (purchase) financing option calculated to about $427,126 for the same cycle, with a buyout of $1,000 per vehicle at term.
Commissioners expressed a desire to avoid large near-term purchases while they evaluate life-cycle costing and leasing alternatives. The board reached consensus to remove the planned FY17 replacement vehicles (a reduction of $427,128 in the proposed budget) and to defer the new-vehicle purchases for one year while staff issues a formal RFP and refines life-cycle-cost comparisons. The sheriff's office was directed to use remaining FY16 nonrecurring balances to buy critical equipment this fiscal year as needed, and to return if additional recurring staffing or overtime funding is required.
Commissioners also discussed the sheriff's historical spending pattern. One commissioner reviewed an 11-year trend showing repeated surpluses (amounts requested but unspent) and urged the sheriff's office to operate within the flat-funded allocation and use BAs during the year for nonrecurring needs; the board agreed to review actual FY16 returns after the audit and to consider earmarking any returned funds for targeted reserves if appropriate.
Next steps: staff to issue a vehicle-leasing RFI/RFP, refine life-cycle cost comparisons, and present options for FY18; sheriff's office to prioritize critical nonrecurring purchases from FY16 balances and to provide vacancy-fill and overtime projections if it requests additional recurring funds later in the year.
