Madera County explores fleet leasing and plug-in vehicles to reduce costs and fuel risk

Madera County supervisors heard June 9 that the county could reduce fleet costs by changing its vehicle replacement strategy and by investing in plug-in hybrid or electric vehicles and charging infrastructure.

Mike Motts, sheriff civil unit manager and acting county fleet superintendent, told the board he believes "there could be a significant cost savings" from leasing models that time vehicle purchases and resale more deliberately. The county's current fleet plan includes municipal leasing for some vehicles, but county staff and supervisors discussed private-sector fleet-management models that buy, sell and manage residual values to preserve equity.

The fleet services budget in the book shows recommended expenditures of $9,054,003.18 for the fiscal year, an increase the presentation said reflects equipment purchases and charges offset by user department mileage and maintenance recoveries. The budget orgs include eight allocated positions, all funded.

Joel Begay and Public Works staff said they are in active discussions with vendors and plan to present a formal options package to the board at a future scheduled meeting. Supervisor Rogers estimated a potential savings "upwards of probably half a million dollars" from switching models and from fuel savings tied to more efficient vehicles.

Electrification and grant funding

Motts and administration staff also reported they are exploring plug-in hybrid replacements and applying for grants through agencies such as the San Joaquin Valley air pollution authority to fund several plug-in hybrid vehicles and charging infrastructure. Motts said initial steps would be to replace a small set of vehicles with plug-in hybrid models while building out charging capacity; staff cautioned that full conversion to electric vehicles would require more substantial charging infrastructure and planning before a large-scale transition.

Next steps

County staff said they will return with a staff report and vendor presentations comparing municipal leasing, private-sector lease/management options and total-cost-of-ownership estimates; they will also present potential grant applications and infrastructure requirements to support plug-in and fully electric vehicles.

Selected quotes

Mike Motts, acting fleet superintendent: "I do believe that there could be a significant cost savings by going this route."

Joel Begay, County administrative office: "I think we're gonna continue that discussion and figure out when, this summer to take it to the board so that we can have a meaningful discussion and perhaps have some of these folks present in public as well."