Supervisor Lori Waters (R-Broad Run) is concerned that at least one county employee is driving a county car home to West Virginia daily and that too much money is being spent on county vehicles.
At a budget meeting last week, she asked Jay Snyder, director of General Services, to take an inventory of the county cars, who is driving them and where they are being driven. She said she is interested only in vehicles used for purposes other than public safety.
Only 58.4 percent of the employees lived in the county last year, according to a report by the Department of Management Services. The report shows 9.9 percent of the employees lived in West Virginia, 6.3 percent lived in Maryland and .3 percent lived in Delaware, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. in 2003. The others lived in various Virginia counties.
Snyder said he is polling his department directors to get a list of people who drive county cars. Once he has the information, he'll contact human resources to determine where the drivers live. In his own department, four employees have county cars and none of them live in West Virginia, he said. There are two mechanics, the fleet manager and the emergency management coordinator.
WATERS ASKED how many new vehicles were bought in the last month. Snyder said about 10 new vehicles.
"I've seen nice new vehicles," she said. "It continues to trouble me. What looks funny to me is newer vehicles … when we are facing tougher times."
Waters questioned why the county is buying F150 pickup trucks instead of smaller, compact pickups.
Snyder, in an interview Tuesday, defended those purchases. "The general answer is there are some in the fleet assigned to Parks and Recreation and General Services. You need them to plow snow and that's the size you need to haul all of those trailers to have the mowers to take care of the ball fields."
Waters asked whether the county has more vehicles than it actually needs.
Snyder said there are four extra in case other cars are damaged in a wreck.
She asked Snyder to advise the Finance Committee if the county needs any more new vehicles before the fiscal year ends.
MICK STATON (R-Sugarland) asked why the county doesn't provide mileage reimbursement instead of vehicles.
Snyder said he is researching the cost differences. He also pointed to possible liability issues associated with employees driving their own cars for county business. "I don't think it's significantly lesser to use your own car than a county car," he said. "There is a cost attached either way."