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Nowadays, a free SUV and gas make for a pretty sweet benefit
Posted By katie allison granju
Larry Van Guilder questions Knox County’s take-home car policy, which I predict will be the next frontier in investigative reporting on county spending.
Knox County government’s top accountant, John Troyer, is one of 151 drivers of county-owned take-home vehicles, without taking into account sheriff’s vehicles. Most are less than fuel-efficient at a time of rising gas prices (the Ford Explorer is typical), and their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions set a poor example for residents of a county already included in an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) nonattainment area.
Many municipalities restrict the practice to employees on 24-hour call or those whose job requires that they carry emergency tools or equipment. Many others are taking a fresh look at their policies. But in Knox County, the wheels keep on turning.
Mayor Mike Ragsdale drives the most expensive vehicle in the take-home fleet, a Chevy Tahoe purchased in June 2006 for $44,013. Between the vehicle’s official in-service date of June 12, 2006, and July 1, 2008, the odometer registered 28,216 miles, an average of 13,732 miles annually. The EPA’s combined city and highway fuel efficiency rating for this SUV is 16 miles per gallon.
If the annual mileage rate holds, at a nominal $3.90 per gallon, taxpayers will ante up $3,347 to fuel the Tahoe over the next 12 months.
A 2008 Ford Focus S sedan sells for $16,200. The price would be somewhat less for fleet purchasers. For the price of the Tahoe, the county could purchase two such vehicles with about $12,000 left over to go toward a third.
The EPA combined mileage rating for the Focus is 28 miles per gallon. For the same miles driven at $3.90 per gallon, fueling the Focus for a year would cost $1,913, a savings of $1,434.
Besides Troyer, two of the mayor’s top staffers, Mike Arms and Dwight Van de Vate, drive SUVs. At $27,100 and $26,240 respectively, their Ford Explorers were more modestly priced than the mayor’s Tahoe, but their vehicles’ fuel efficiency is no better.
At the rate of 28,277 miles per year, Arms’ 2005 model Explorer will burn $6,893 in gas by next July. For the same amount of travel, the Focus needs $3,939 of fuel.
Van de Vate drives fewer miles than Arms, according to the fleet records. Still, his 2003 Explorer will need $4,403 in fuel over the next year. The 28 mpg Ford sedan would save $2,044.
SUVs, particularly four-wheel drive models, are much in demand in Knox County. Of the 151 take-home vehicles, 46 are SUVs. In the property assessor’s office alone, 12 of the 15 vehicles assigned to drivers are SUVs, and a closer look at the property assessor’s vehicle records raises some questions.
Fleet records reveal that five of the 15 vehicles assigned to the property assessor are being driven between 6,200 miles and 8,792 miles annually. Mileage figures this low could easily be accounted for by nothing more than a daily commute. The remaining vehicles average between 10,075 and 20,051 miles driven per year.
Aug 4th, 2008
