Categorized | Government, News

County cuts take-home vehicle fleet by more than half

MEDIA RELEASE

Mayor Billy Kenoi has cut the number of take-home vehicles assigned to County employees by 54 percent since taking office in December 2008.

Documents released today by the Kenoi administration in response to a media inquiry show that in December 2008, when Mayor Kenoi took office, there were 141 take-home vehicles assigned to employees in the County of Hawai‘i. As of June 14, 2010, there were 65 employees permitted to take County vehicles home.

Vehicles may be assigned to employees who are designated first responders to emergencies. They may be assigned to employees who travel often enough to make it impractical to pick up and release the car at a County base yard each day. They also may be assigned to employees when County parking facilities are inadequate, exposing the vehicles to vandalism or theft.

County Finance Director Nancy Crawford said County vehicle assignments were re-examined by the administration in January. “This year we put stiffer requirements in effect to justify vehicle assignments,” Crawford said. “It’s another example of this administration’s commitment to reducing costs and controlling operations.”

Mayor Kenoi has reduced the size of the County budget by a total of $27 million since taking office, in large part by directing Department heads to cut deeply into their operating budgets.

“I am pleased that our Departments were able to make these significant cost savings by carefully analyzing their budgets,” said Mayor Kenoi. Their efforts go a long way toward establishing the community’s trust in County government.”

The total number of all County vehicles with state license plates currently is 1,095, including cars, trucks, fire engines, bulldozers, buses and ambulances, Crawford said. By comparison, the County of Maui, which is smaller in size but comparable in population, reports a total of 1,286 vehicles in its County fleet.

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