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Richland County risk director proposes centralized fleet policies, $1M VRF boost and insurance-budget adjustments
Summary
Director Britney Holt Terry proposed enterprise risk management measures including a new fleet and driver policy, a recommended $1 million addition to the Vehicle Replacement Fund plus a possible $300,000 capture for SRO vehicles, and adjustments to the self-insured claim budget to prepare for potential increases in state tort caps.
At the council's May 5 budget work session Risk Management Director Britney Holt Terry outlined a countywide enterprise risk-management approach and tied several budget recommendations to reducing future claims costs.
Terry said enterprise risk management will identify and assign ownership for risks across departments and allow leaders to prioritize resources and mitigations. As a near-term budget item she described a new fleet and driver policies manual that would centralize vehicle acquisition, disposal and driver eligibility and recommended an additional $1,000,000 in cumulative funding for the Vehicle Replacement Fund (VRF) to align with a previously established 10-year plan.
Terry said staff also recommend capturing an additional $300,000 relating to school resource officer vehicles (funds collected from school districts to use the VRF rather than general fund). She highlighted operational changes intended to reduce claims costs, including continuous motor-vehicle-record (MVR) monitoring and an online vehicle reservation system intended to reduce fleet size and utilization inefficiencies: "Even reducing one vehicle from the fleet will cover that technology," Terry said.
On liability exposure, Terry warned that proposed increases to South Carolina tort claims caps could require higher self-insured limits. She said for FY27 staff are recommending an increase to the self-insured claims budget and that the current fiscal year is on track to exhaust budgeted self-insurance funds plus reserves.
Ending: Councilmembers asked about the percentage of the self-insurance budget used this year and the cost of the proposed vehicle-reservation technology; Terry said the budget is on track to be exhausted and that the reservation system's cost would be modest compared with savings from removing vehicles.
