The Marshall County Council members reviewed vehicle purchase requests Monday morning which led to confusion on what vehicles the county is buying, and what vehicles the county is leasing through Enterprise.
The commissioners took action last year to enter into an agreement with Enterprise to lease 13 vehicles. Three requests were before the council to purchase vehicles for three departments which led to questions of what vehicles are leased and what vehicles are purchased.
Several council members again asked Commissioner Stan Klotz to submit an inventory of vehicles so they have a clearer understanding of what’s occurring with the county’s fleet.
Councilman Jon VanVactor asked Klotz how the commissioners were going to proceed with the lease program since signing an agreement last fall, but now want to consider buying vehicles. Klotz stated that they are going to attempt to start buying vehicles.
Klotz commented, “As far as the lease with Enterprise, we’re going to try to get to the point where we own three or four of these vehicles all the time instead of paying the lease every month, every year on 13 of them and then we’re going to stretch them out because right now if that Enterprise lease would have went through you were going to turn in vehicles in one case on had only 27,000 miles on it at the end of a four-year lease. I’m sorry that’s dumb. I want to bring that $77,000 Enterprise line item down, but it’s going to take a few years to get to that point.”
Klotz also commented that the initial lease agreement may not have been valid due to state statute.
With that, the county council reviewed the vehicle purchase requests before them Monday morning. Officials with the Probation Department, Community Corrections and the Health Department would be purchasing vehicles from their own budget funds.
A vehicle purchase request from the Health Department for $33,000 was denied. Health Administrator Christine Stinson has left the county after resigning from the position two weeks ago, and the council felt that the new Health Administrator should make the decision on a new vehicle once a new administrator is chosen. The health department currently has a leased vehicle, but this was an additional vehicle for purchase.
Community Corrections Director Ward Byers said they will be purchasing their own vehicle in the amount of $20,000. He said the Community Corrections Advisory Board and the Department of Corrections allowed the purchase out of the Community Transition Fund. There is still one other vehicle leased through Enterprise. The purchase was approved by the council with a unanimous vote.
Two vehicles for the probation department totaling $28,000 will be purchased out of the Cumulative Capital Development Fund. About $8,800 will be transferred out of the Leased Vehicles line item in that fund to go toward the purchase of those vehicles for a total of about $36,800.
