Montgomery County needs more thorough oversight on its light-duty vehicle fleet, according to a new county inspector general report.
Inspector General Megan Davey Limarzi’s office reviewed 103 vehicles of the county’s approximately 737 light-duty administrative vehicles, according to the report. It found that the county “has lax control over its fleet vehicles and provides limited guidance and training regarding the roles and responsibilities of departments in managing fleet vehicles.”
Light-duty vehicles exclude those assigned to independent county agencies or used for public safety, according to the report.
The Inspector General’s office found that many fleet coordinators had not received training on their vehicle fleet, regarding maintenance, recordkeeping and other issues. The report recommended that the county draft formal guidance to rectify these issues.
According to the report, the county also did not do sufficient background checks on county employees who have driver’s licenses issued outside of Maryland. It’s unclear whether employees driving county vehicles or vehicles for county business might have infractions or licenses suspended.
The county should have a more thorough check on those with licenses outside Maryland, the report stated. It also recommended that the county more routinely check the driving records of those approved to drive light-duty county vehicles.
There also has been insufficient effort to continue monitoring former county drivers or those who no longer need a county vehicle. County officials should keep that information up to date with NICUSA, a monitoring program used by many local and state governments nationwide, the report stated.
The report stated that county officials did not always adequately respond to notifications it received about drivers through the NICUSA system, and should do so.
In his response to the report, Chief Administrative Officer Rich Madaleno said County Executive Marc Elrich and his administration agree with all of the recommendations in the report.
The only difficulty, they said, would be implementing a system to regularly review employees approved to drive county vehicles or other vehicles for county business, as there are “numerous challenges” to getting that information in an accessible, easy format.
Steve Bohnel can be reached at steve.bohnel@moco360.media
