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HomeMy WebLinkAboutVII (D) Expanding the Currrent Take Home Vehicle Program Agenda 6-17-2003 Item VII D TO: "fhe Honorable Mayor and Board of City Commissioners FROM: Steve CoeIon, Chief Of Police y — DATE: June 5, 2003 SUBJECT: EXPANDING THE CURRENT TAKE HOME VEHICLE PROGRAM STAFF REPORT ISSUE Should the Honorable Mayor and Board of City Commissioners authorize the Ocoee Police Department to expand the existing take home vehicle program. BACKGROUND The Ocoee Police Department is trying to stay competitive with other local law enforcement agencies and to get the most efficient use out of its equipment and staffing. Vehicles are an essential part of this plan, as the City continues to grow and meet the ever-increasing demands for service. To this end, the police department is asking to allow as many sworn members as possible to participate in the take home vehicle program. Last year, the Commission voted to expand this program to allow marked patrol vehicles to be taken home within the .IPA boundaries by officers who had successfully completed field training (budget allowing). A committee was created and was tasked with researching ways to extend the program to all sworn members of the police department. Citizen opinions, vehicle maintenance costs, fuel costs, insurance costs, and the effects on pool vehicles verses take home vehicles were considered by the committee. While proponents of a full take home vehicle program will contend that such a program,when done correctly, benefits the community as a whole, the tangible benefits are truly realized by the officers and the police department. There are costs (and detractors) of extending the program beyond the JPA boundaries and they include: I) Additional fuel costs 2) Additional maintenance costs (oil changes, tire replacement, etc.) 3) Additional mileage on the vehicles 4) Additional insurance costs 5)Justifying to taxpayers of Ocoee why marked police vehicles are taken outside of the JPA STAFF REPORT EXPANDING THE CURRENT VEHICLE TAKE FIOME PROGRAM Page 2 of 4 1) Additional fuel costs &2) Additional maintenance costs (oil changes, tire replacement, etc.) There are costs involved in expanding the program. The costs will depend on the miles that the vehicles are driven. In order to see this program expanded, officers have expressed a willingness to help share the costs. Understanding the City's financial situation, a realistic cost must be established. There are various sources used to calculate costs of vehicle use. The IRS allowance of thirty-six cents per mile is used For tax itemization purposes.This figure is meant to give an advantage to the person itemizing their taxes. Florida State Statute 112.061 establishes twenty-five cents per mile as the reimbursement rate for public employees who use personal vehicles for public business. Lease companies generally charge ten cents per mile over the allotted miles in a lease to cover the cost of the vehicle, wear and tear, etc. A way to determine a realistic cost would be to include this charge and the cost of gasoline and oil changes at an additional ten cents per mile(based on an average City gasoline cost of one dollar and forty cents per gallon at fifteen MPG and a fifteen dollar oil change every 3000 miles and tire wear) to reach a rate of twenty cents per mile. Actual road miles from the officer's house to the JPA boundary would be used in the cost calculations. The JPA as shown on the map is an irregular shape. An option here could be to use the two furthest points of the JPA as the circumference of a circle to establish an even perimeter to use as a starting point for mileage calculation purposes. Officers living within the circumference would not he charged to take a vehicle home. Officers living outside the circumference would be charged based on actual road miles from the circumference to their homes. 3) Additional mileage on the vehicles An officer living five miles outside of the WA will put an average of 1920 additional miles on a vehicle per year based on a four/ten hour day work week. An officer living ten miles outside of the JPA will put an average of 3840 additional miles on a vehicle per year based on a four/ ten hour day work week. An officer living fifteen miles outside of the JPA will put an average of 5760 additional miles on a vehicle per year based on a four/ten hour day work week. An officer living twenty miles outside of the JPA will put an average of 7680 additional miles on a vehicle per year based on a four/ten hour day work week. An officer living thirty miles outside of the JPA will put an average of 11520 additional miles on a vehicle per year based on a lour/ ten hour day work week. STAFF REPORT EXPANDING THE CURRENT VEHICLE TAKE HOME PROGRAM Page 3 of 4 Of the twenty officers who do not have marked take home vehicles: There are five officers who live less than five miles from the JPA There are five officers who live five to ten miles from the JPA. There are four officers who live fifteen to twenty miles from the JPA. There are three officers who live twenty to twenty-five miles from the JPA. There are three officers who live thirty to forty miles from the JPA. These additional miles would be compensated for in the twenty cents per mile charge to the officer. Using twenty cents per mile, based on a four/ ten hour day work week,an officer living ten miles from the JPA would pay thirty two dollars biweekly, plus insurance. An officer living thirty miles from the JPA would pay ninety-six dollars biweekly, plus insurance. 4) Additional insurance costs According to I luman Resources, the City's insurance underwriter estimated a S1,200.00 increase in the premium next year for these additional vehicles to be taken home. This equates to five dollars per vehicle per month. These would be flat costs and could be added to the twenty cents per mile rate. 5)Justifying to taxpayers of Ocoee why marked police vehicles are going outside of the JPA An officer coming to work in his or her own vehicle has an obligation to stop at an accident in Winter Garden, Apopka, Orange County, or Orlando to render aid and prevent further damage and injury. It is much safer to do so and the officer is much better equipped to do so with a marked vehicle. Ocoee is part of a community. What affects Winter Garden, Apopka, Orange County, Orlando and other surrounding areas, affects Ocoee. The obligation to protect and serve citizens doesn't end at the city limits. The obligation to protect and serve people who do not live in Ocoee still exists when they are passing through Ocoee. Officers paying the operating costs of the vehicles should help to dispel any additional concerns. The take home vehicle committee presented an expanded take home vehicle proposal to the Citizen Advisory Council of the Ocoee Police Department(CACOPD). The members of this council were appointed by the City Commission to help represent the citizens' opinions on police matters. The CACOPD discussed the pros and cons of the proposal and the majority voted to support a proposal for marked patrol vehicles to go outside of the JPA because of the benefits it provides. STAFF REPORT EXPANDING THE CURRENT VEHICLE TAKE HOME PROGRAM Page 4 of 4 Several agencies in the area, such as the Orange County Sheriff's Office, the Orlando Police Department and the Winter Park Police Department have marked take home patrol vehicles, many of which are driven home by officers who live in Ocoee. These agencies are the Ocoee Police Department's local competitors. The Orlando and Winter Park Police Departments allow thirty miles from their city limits as their maximum distance to take a marked vehicle home. The Ocoee Police Department has sixty-six sworn positions and sixty-five vehicles. Out of the sixty-five vehicles, there arc four vehicles that are unassigned because the department is not up to full strength. Out of the sixty-six positions, there are twenty officers who do not have take home vehicles, but are assigned exclusively to a vehicle. Different officers use these exclusively assigned non-take home pool vehicles when their vehicles are in for repairs. As part of the 2003/2004 budget, regardless of any changes in the take home vehicle plan, the police department is hoping to ask for nine vehicles to replace aging 1996 and 1997 model year patrol vehicles and to be able to retain some as spares for pool vehicles. Lease options are being considered for those vehicles to save the City as much money as possible. RECOMMENDATION It is respectfully recommended that the Honorable Mayor and Board of City Commissioners approve the request to expand the current vehicle take home program. Portions of this staff report that are approved will he added to the police department's take home vehicle policy.