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Commissioners weigh limits on county take‑home vehicles as manager lists 20 assigned cars
Summary
County manager presented a list of about 20 county take‑home vehicles assigned across departments; commissioners debated necessity, overnight travel, fleet rotation and public perception of vehicle purchases.
County manager Terry Atchley presented the board with a list of county employees who currently take county vehicles home and summarized operational reasons for those assignments on June 19, 2025.
Who has take‑home vehicles: Atchley listed about 20 positions that are authorized a take‑home vehicle across multiple departments, including the county manager, public safety officers, fire leadership, building inspection, utilities and parks (aer list included names in the presentation). Atchley said most assigned staff respond to after‑hours calls, perform emergency dispatch duties or oversee facilities that operate on weekends and require fast access to a vehicle.
Board concerns and debate: several commissioners said they support take‑home vehicles for specific emergency and field positions (for example, building inspectors and parks superintendents) but questioned the number of vehicles, the policy allowing vehicles to leave county limits overnight, and the timing and transparency of certain new vehicle purchases. Commissioner Wells said vehicles should not routinely leave the county and asked whether managers should drive personal vehicles to the office and use county vehicles only for work shifts.
Fleet rotation and procurement: Atchley said the county inherited many old vehicles and is working to rotate new vehicles into the fleet; he said some purchases were made under state contract and are part of a planned replacement schedule. Commissioners asked for more detail in the budget process on vehicle purchases, for a rotation schedule and for clearer policy language about out‑of‑county use and agency accountability.
Next steps requested by commissioners: several commissioners asked staff to bring a recommended written take‑home vehicle policy for board consideration before or during budget deliberations, including vehicle assignment criteria and limits on out‑of‑county use.
