The Erie County Legislature held the first of several meetings Thursday, January 29, to dive deeper into issues surrounding Erie County Fleet Services. The meetings come after Minority Leader and Erie County Legislator John Mills requested an immediate review following an audit that revealed serious issues regarding fleet oversight.
“When there are fuel transactions recorded under names of employees who have retired or resigned, and when GPS devices are not installed in all vehicles, this raises the alarm,” said Legislator Mills.
In fact, the report found that three hundred sixty-five county vehicles could not be located or verified and there was significant noncompliance with the required authorization for 24-hour take-home vehicles. In addition, only 42 percent of take-home vehicles have the required GPS devices installed, despite a 2016 legislative resolution mandating the installation of said devices. Gasboy also recorded 14,503 MORE fuel transactions year to year, or nearly 40 additional fill-ups per day, despite reported mileage declining by 9.6 million miles.
“The data indicates it’s possible Erie County taxpayers are being defrauded through fuel theft and employees may be receiving benefits without proper authorization. It’s also alarming that many vehicles cannot be accounted for. We need better oversight and answers. These findings are unacceptable,” said Legislator Mills.
Several more meetings with the Administration and Fleet Services are planned in an effort to resolve the issues and develop a strategy to address the concerns presented in the audit.
