Lawmakers study use of state vehicles

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Following an audit critical of state vehicle policies, a House committee opened hearings Monday on whether the state owns too many vehicles and operates them inefficiently.

Representatives are taking an office-by-office inventory of state cars and trucks, delving into the minutiae of how often the oil is changed, who takes vehicles to the service station and how many miles annually each car is driven.

Among the broader issues is whether the state should centralize its fleet management both for vehicles and aircraft.

The legislative hearings come after a Sept. 25 report by State Auditor Claire McCaskill that said it is unclear precisely how many vehicles the state owns.

That audit also recommended a statewide policy for vehicle management with requirements on minimum mileage use, vehicle replacement, preventive maintenance and justification for assigning vehicles to individuals.

A report in March by the Council on Efficient Operations, led by Lt. Gov. Joe Maxwell, also recommended the state adopt clear, written policies for vehicle use and develop a better means of tracking how many vehicles it owns.

Auditor testifies

McCaskill, testifying Monday before the House Interim Committee on the State Fleet of Motor Vehicles and Airplanes, said legislators should consider whether to put one agency in charge of the all vehicles and airplanes.

"It would be a new bureaucracy, but it seems to me that for both airplanes and cars, there are a lot of efficiencies that could be realized," McCaskill said.

Among the committee members is state Rep. Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, a longtime advocate of consolidating state aircraft ownership, which now is spread among several agencies.

McCaskill said she plans an audit looking specifically at statewide aircraft use.

The committee is hearing testimony from nearly every state office.

Gov. Bob Holden's office reported that it owned only one vehicle and could not attend the hearing. But State Treasurer Nancy Farmer testified about her office's two vehicles. Other elected officials and Supreme Court judges sent representatives to the committee.

Attorney General Jay Nixon's office provided an example of why lawmakers were conducting the hearings. Chief of Staff John Watson said the office had 29 vehicles, then amended that to 30 including a mail vehicle.

But neither number matched the 36 vehicles listed in McCaskill's audit nor the 27 vehicles listed as licensed through the Department of Revenue.

The committee pressed Watson to reconcile the numbers and report back to them.

Whatever the number of vehicles, Watson said they all were being put to good use. The vehicles averaged a little more than 16,000 miles a year and the office also reimburses people for the use of their personal vehicles, depending on which option is more cost-effective.

"We have no desire to maintain a large fleet of vehicles," Watson told the committee. "If we had a more cost-effective way to do it ... we would be happy to do so."