Section 125.832 - Exclusive authority for fleet management(A) The department of administrative services is granted exclusive authority over the acquisition and management of all motor vehicles used by state agencies. In carrying out this authority, the department shall do both of the following: (1) Approve the purchase or lease of each motor vehicle for use by a state agency. The department shall decide if a motor vehicle shall be leased or purchased for that use. Except as otherwise provided in division (A)(1) of this section, on and after July 1, 2005, each state agency shall acquire all passenger motor vehicles under the department's master leasing program. If the department determines that acquisition under that program is not the most economical method and if the department and the state agency acquiring the passenger motor vehicle can provide economic justification for doing so, the department may approve the purchase, rather than the lease, of a passenger motor vehicle for the acquiring state agency.
(2) Direct and approve all funds that are expended for the purchase, lease, repair, maintenance, registration, insuring, and other costs related to the possession and operation of motor vehicles for the use of state agencies.(B) The director of administrative services shall establish and operate a fleet management program. The director shall operate the program for purposes including, but not limited to, cost-effective acquisition, maintenance, management, analysis, and disposal of all motor vehicles owned or leased by the state. All state agencies shall comply with statewide fleet management policies and procedures established by the director for the program, including, but not limited to, motor vehicle assignments, additions of motor vehicles to fleets or motor vehicle replacements, motor vehicle fueling, and motor vehicle repairs.(C) The director shall establish and maintain a fleet reporting system and shall require state agencies to submit to the department information relative to state motor vehicles, including motor vehicles described in division (G)(2) of section 125.831 of the Revised Code, to be used in operating the fleet management program. State agencies shall provide to the department fleet data and other information, including, but not limited to, mileage and costs. The data and other information shall be submitted in formats and in a manner determined by the department.(D) All state agency purchases or leases of motor vehicles are subject to the prior approval of the director under division (A)(1) of this section.(E) State agencies that utilize state motor vehicles or pay mileage reimbursements to employees shall provide a fleet plan to the department as directed by the department.(F)(1) The fleets of state agencies that consist of one hundred or less vehicles on July 1, 2004, shall be managed by the department's fleet management program on a time schedule determined by the department, unless the state agency has received delegated authority as described in division (G) of this section.(2) The fleets of state agencies that consist of greater than one hundred motor vehicles, but less than five hundred motor vehicles, on July 1, 2005, also shall be managed by the department's fleet management program on a time schedule determined by the department, unless the state agency has received delegated authority as described in division (G) of this section.(G)(1) The department may delegate any or all of its duties regarding fleet management to a state agency, if the state agency demonstrates to the satisfaction of the department both of the following: (a) Capabilities to institute and manage a fleet management program, including, but not limited to, the presence of a certified fleet manager;(b) Fleet management performance, as demonstrated by fleet data and other information submitted pursuant to annual reporting requirements and any other criteria the department considers necessary in evaluating the performance.(2) The department may determine that a state agency is not in compliance with this section and direct that the agency's fleet management duties be transferred to the department.(H) The proceeds derived from the disposition of any motor vehicles under this section shall be paid to whichever of the following applies:(1) The fund that originally provided moneys for the purchase or lease of the motor vehicles; (2) If the motor vehicles were originally purchased with moneys derived from the general revenue fund, the proceeds shall be deposited, in the director's discretion, into the state treasury to the credit of either the fleet management fund created by section 125.83 of the Revised Code or the investment recovery fund created by section 125.14 of the Revised Code. Any such proceeds deposited into the state treasury to the credit of the investment recovery fund may be transferred from the investment recovery fund to the fleet management fund.(I)(1) The department shall create and maintain a certified fleet manager program. (2) State agencies that have received delegated authority as described in division (G) of this section shall have a certified fleet manager.(J) The department annually shall prepare and submit a statewide fleet report to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the president of the senate. The report shall be submitted not later than the thirty-first day of January following the end of each fiscal year. It may include, but is not limited to, the numbers and types of motor vehicles, their mileage, miles per gallon, and cost per mile, mileage reimbursements, accident and insurance data, and information regarding compliance by state agencies having delegated authority under division (G) of this section with applicable fleet management requirements.(K) The director shall adopt rules for implementing the fleet management program that are consistent with recognized best practices. The program shall be supported by reasonable fee charges for the services provided. The director shall collect these fees and deposit them into the state treasury to the credit for the fleet management fund created by section 125.83 of the Revised Code. The setting and collection of fees under this division is not subject to any restriction imposed by law upon the director's or the department's authority to set or collect fees.(L) The director also shall adopt rules that prohibit, except in very limited circumstances, the exclusive assignment of state-owned, leased, or pooled motor vehicles to state employees and that prohibit the reimbursement under section 126.31 of the Revised Code of state employees who use their own motor vehicles for any mileage they incur above an amount that the department shall determine annually unless reimbursement for the excess mileage is approved by the department in accordance with standards for that approval the director shall establish in those rules. Beginning on September 26, 2003, no state-owned, leased, or pooled motor vehicle shall be personally assigned as any form of compensation or benefit of state employment, and no state-owned, leased, or pooled motor vehicle shall be assigned to an employee solely for commuting to and from home and work.(M) The director shall do both of the following:(1) Implement to the greatest extent possible the recommendations from the 2002 report entitled "Administrative Analysis of the Ohio Fleet Management Program" in connection with the authority granted to the department by this section;(2) Attempt to reduce the number of passenger vehicles used by state agencies during the fiscal years ending on June 30, 2004, and June 30, 2005.(N) Each state agency shall reimburse the department for all costs incurred in the assignment of motor vehicles to the state agency.(O) The director shall do all of the following in managing the fleet management program: (1) Determine how motor vehicles will be maintained, insured, operated, financed, and licensed;(2) Pursuant to the formula in division (O)(3) of this section, annually establish the minimum number of business miles per year an employee of a state agency must drive in order to qualify for approval by the department to receive a motor vehicle for business use; (3) Establish the minimum number of business miles per year at an amount that results when the annual motor vehicle cost is divided by the amount that is the reimbursement rate per mile minus the amount that is the sum of the fuel cost, the operating cost, and the insurance cost. As used in this division:(a) "Annual motor vehicle cost" means the price of a motor vehicle divided by the number of years an average motor vehicle is used.(b) "Fuel cost" means the average price per gallon of motor fuel divided by the miles per gallon fuel efficiency of a motor vehicle.(c) "Insurance cost" means the cost of insuring a motor vehicle per year divided by the number of miles an average motor vehicle is driven per year.(d) "Operating cost" means the maintenance cost of a motor vehicle per year divided by the number of miles an average motor vehicle is driven per year.(e) "Reimbursement rate per mile" means the reimbursement per mile rate for travel expenses as provided by rule of the director of budget and management adopted under division (B) of section 126.31 of the Revised Code.Amended by 134th General Assembly, HB 110,§101.01, eff. 9/30/2021.Amended by 130th General Assembly, HB 59,§101.01, eff. 9/29/2013.Effective Date: 09-26-2003; 06-30-2005; 07-06-2006