2014-02-25 Planning & Organisation Committee Meeting Agenda

PLANNING & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                25 FEBRUARY 2014



The main reason for the increase in vehicles from 2008 levels can be attributed to the fact that
approximately 17 vehicles related to employees who were identified for transfer SCRC who were
unplaced in the interim Noosa Council structure.

3.    Rationalisation Process to Date

Interim Directors were requested to review the leased vehicles under their respective jurisdiction
to determine whether ongoing use of the vehicle was required to deliver services for the new
Council, and for those vehicles to be retained whether current commuter use arrangements in
place were appropriate. Commuter use is generally provided when insufficient Council facilities
exist to store vehicles overnight in a safe manner.

A number of vehicles (sedans, wagons) transferred with commuter use were incurring a Fringe
Benefits Tax (FBT) cost of approximately $4,700 per vehicle per annum. The first priority of the
review was to eliminate commuter use of sedans and wagons to eliminate this cost from day one
where possible. A full review of FBT costs on all vehicles (including vehicles as part of employee
contracts) will be undertaken over the next 6 months to further reduce unnecessary FBT costs.

The table below outlines the status of the review process and the number of vehicles identified
for lease termination, in addition to the annual cost savings that will be made. Currently a 28%
saving has been made in the leased vehicle fleet, as the interim directors and staff have been
closely looking at their operations and need for the vehicle numbers that have transferred.

 Vehicle Type         Original      Return        Retained      % Saving      Annual $
                      Number                                                  Saving
 Sedan                1             0             1             0%            $-
 Wagons               36            13            23            36%           $203,255
 Hatch                4             1             3             25%           $14,060
 Utes 4x2             23            9             14            39%           $107,753
 Utes 4x4             38            7             31            18%           97,994
 Vans                 6             0             6             0%            $-
 Truck                1             0             1             0%            $-
 Total                109           30            79            28%           $412,009

As of 14 February 2014, 25 of the 30 vehicles have been returned to the lease companies. A
significant volume of work has been undertaken within the organisation to transfer remaining
vehicles across departments and sections to minimise lease payout costs, whilst at the same
time continuing to meet the specific operational needs for each section to deliver services to the
community. The level of co-operation across the Council departments to allow vehicle transfers
to occur efficiently should be acknowledged.

Pool vehicle arrangements are currently being established. There are currently approximately 20
of the 80 remaining vehicles (25%) under private use arrangements as part of employment
contracts. These vehicles will need to be utilised as part of the Council pool fleet across the
various sites that will avoid the need for a separate pool vehicle fleet.

4.    Rationalisation Process Going Forward

Once the organisation structure is finalised and service levels are confirmed a further review of
fleet vehicles will be undertaken, particularly in relation to the type of vehicles required to deliver
services to ensure costs are minimised. It is also expected that the provision of vehicles as part
of employment packages will also be reviewed and rationalised where possible.



                                                                                       Page 59 of 92