County Government Fleet Purchasing Practices: Financial Efficiency vs. Need Assertion

Abstract

An abundant amount of local government services are implemented through the use of automobiles each year. These costs include initial purchase, use, repair, and replacement. Traditional budgeting research is broad and does not isolate fleet costs or the influential actors in the process. This study examines the finance practices and need assertion associated with vehicle purchases and acquisition. Findings indicate most county governments in North and South Carolina choose to purchase vehicles on a cash basis, especially if there is a low resale value for surplus automobiles. In addition, county staff are very influential in additional vehicle purchases, especially if the sheriff can convince the county manager that additional automobiles of a particular make can enhance service delivery.

County Government Fleet Acquisition Practices: Service Demand or Budget Limitations

“…Departmental staff did not have a make preference whereas law enforcement personnel did have a preference. A recent study discovered that law enforcement personnel prefer either the Dodge Charger or Ford Interceptor (Modlin, 2016b). For county governments, the number of miles covered for service does have an impact on fleet replacement.…”

“…A recent study found that the sheriff or county law enforcement is the primary fleet replacement recipient. In most cases, performance is a primary driver in law enforcement fleet requests, so vehicle make requests (SHERIFFMAKE) have proven to be quite important (Modlin, 2016b). The same could also be true for other service departments depending on service category (DEPMAKE) .…”

Finance officer Organizational Influence: Does Gender Matter?

“…Certain facets of previous studies were also supported on the basis of the findings. Despite gender differences, it was apparent throughout the study that the county manager possesses much influence from both an administrative and policy formulation standpoint (Modlin, 2011;Modlin 2016a). In this study, managers were primarily responsible for funding priorities for the fiscal year and informing departments including the sheriff of overspending.…”

“…Capital projects, debt service refinancing, bank choices, various decisions concerning staff equipment purchases, or even a lack of demands from staff were not closed responses. A recent finding did conclude that in most cases there was no preference for departmental staff make and model preferences concerning vehicle purchases, but law enforcement definitely had a preference (Modlin, 2016a).…”

“…Budget hearings provide for any increased funding requests by other parties including the elected body prior to final formulation and ratification before the beginning of the next fiscal year. A more recent study substantiated both the gatekeeper role of the finance officer as well as the influence of the manager as findings indicated that law enforcement officials were likely to receive requested automobiles if there was an initial working relationship with the manager versus a latent appeal to commissioners (Modlin, 2016a).…”