Columbia County commissioners approve surplus property, debate take‑home vehicle and AI policies

Columbia County commissioners on June 3 adopted a resolution to surplus county property at 215 East Clay Street in Dayton and spent much of the meeting reviewing staff proposals for a take‑home vehicle policy and an AI‑use policy that would preserve search logs for public‑records requests.

The board unanimously adopted Resolution 2026‑11 declaring the former prosecuting attorney building at 215 East Clay Street surplus property after a motion by a commissioner and a second from the chair. "It is surplus," the chair said after the vote. Commissioners discussed setting a minimum price at the assessor's value or fair market value and agreed to plan an open house and an auction likely in mid‑to‑late July.

The meeting opened with a finance briefing from county staff. The finance presenter said the county had billed “a little over $12,000,000” for districts and departments so far this year and noted an outstanding prior‑years balance of $384,000. Staff described investment arrangements including a sweep account that has produced additional interest income; the presenter said the county had about $2,500,000 in cash and reserve at the end of March with roughly 80% in local money‑market accounts and 17% in bonds.

A substantial portion of the meeting focused on a draft take‑home vehicle policy. Staff told the board the draft follows common best practices used elsewhere and that one common eligibility threshold they found was to require frequent emergency call‑outs; "they would need to be called out 12 times per quarter," a staff member said, characterizing the threshold as a way to limit take‑home vehicles to employees who must respond regularly off hours. The draft also would require routine mileage tracking and reporting so county administrators can separate personal use from county business.

Commissioners raised practical and legal concerns. Several members noted that the IRS treats use of an employer vehicle for personal purposes as a fringe benefit that may create taxable income; a staff member said the taxable fringe‑benefit value is commonly estimated in policy discussions around $1.50 per mile and that the county should expect W‑2 reporting consequences. Commissioners debated whether the county should eliminate take‑home vehicles entirely, make exceptions where a vehicle appears in a negotiated contract, or grandfather existing arrangements for certain positions (for example the county engineer or coroner).

The board also discussed administrative controls in the draft: daily or monthly mileage reporting, a clear definition of county versus personal use, and who would be responsible for reviewing the submitted reports. Staff emphasized there are four county vehicles currently taken home outside of sworn deputy vehicles; the draft would exempt deputies because of different IRS rules and existing contractual language.

Separately, the board discussed an AI‑use policy that staff said is intended to preserve public‑records access to AI searches and outputs. Staff described the practical option of selecting a single county platform and having employees sign in with county email so search logs and generated text can be captured in a way that responds to records requests. "If you get a platform, one AI platform that everybody signs in with their county email, then it's easier to track for public records stuff," a staff member said. Commissioners noted the legal landscape remains unsettled but cited guidance and ongoing public‑records requests asserting that AI logs and outputs can be subject to disclosure.

Other agenda items included correcting the pay grade for a recently hired legal intern (staff recommended grade 11, step 6 and said any adjustment would be applied from the intern's start date) and routine approval of the May 18 meeting minutes. The chair closed the meeting after commissioners agreed staff should refine both the vehicle and AI policies — including how to implement mileage tracking and how to select or fund a single AI platform — and return with recommended language for formal action.

Votes at a glance: the board approved the minutes of the May 18 meeting (motion carried) and adopted Resolution 2026‑11 to surplus county property at 215 East Clay Street (motion carried). No roll‑call tallies were recorded in the transcript.