No. 27546 (Amendment): R27-1-2. Definitions

DAR File No.: 27546
Filed: 11/15/2004, 10:23
Received by: NL

 

RULE ANALYSIS

Purpose of the rule or reason for the change:

This amendment clarifies that the statute of "authorized driver" is limited to employees as defined in the Governmental Immunity Act. It also defines a subset of commute vehicles, the use of which, is exempt from the imputation of a taxable fringe benefit according to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) publications.

 

Summary of the rule or change:

The proposed amendment to "authorized driver" clarifies that it applies to employees as defined in Section 63-30d-102 of the governmental immunity act. The proposed definition of "take home vehicle" applies to state vehicles assigned to be driven to and from an employee's residence and work location for more than five calendar days per month and the use of which is not considered a taxable fringe benefit under the provisions of IRS publication 15-b. The addition of this definition also requires the renumbering of subsequent definitions.

 

State statutory or constitutional authorization for this rule:

Section 63A-9-401

 

Anticipated cost or savings to:

the state budget:

The anticipated cost or savings to the state budget is unknown. Due to the range of individuals falling under the definition of "employee" in the Governmental Immunity Act, it is difficult to calculate impact. The proper categorization of vehicles assigned to be driven to and from an employees residence and their work assignment involves either the imputation of a taxable fringe benefit or an exemption therefrom, there could be an impact on the state budget. However, it is currently unknown where, along this imputed income/exemption divide agencies fall.

 

local governments:

The amendment only involves state government. Hence, there is no aggregate anticipated cost or savings to local government.

 

other persons:

There is no anticipated cost or savings to others as a result of changes to the definition of "authorized driver." Likewise, changes to the proper categorization of a "take home vehicle" may have an effect on employees authorized to drive state vehicles to and from their residence and their place of work. However, the aggregate anticipated cost or savings to employees is unknown. Proper categorization may result in taxable fringe benefits being imputed to some employees and others being considered exempt from the imputed income.

 

Compliance costs for affected persons:

Compliance costs for affected persons are unknown. Proper categorization of "take home vehicle" may result in taxable fringe benefits being imputed to some employees and others being considered exempt from the imputed income.

 

Comments by the department head on the fiscal impact the rule may have on businesses:

The proposed amendments only affect state agencies. The proposed amendment is not anticipated to have a fiscal impact on businesses.

 

The full text of this rule may be inspected, during regular business hours, at the Division of Administrative Rules, or at:

Administrative Services
Fleet Operations
Room 4120 STATE OFFICE BLDG
450 N MAIN ST
SALT LAKE CITY UT 84114-1201

 

Direct questions regarding this rule to:

Sal Petilos at the above address, by phone at 801-538-3091, by FAX at 801-538-3844, or by Internet E-mail at [e-mail]

 

Interested persons may present their views on this rule by submitting written comments to the address above no later than 5:00 p.m. on:

01/03/2005

 

This rule may become effective on:

01/04/2005

 

Authorized by:

Steve Saltzgiver, Director

 

 

RULE TEXT

R27. Administrative Services, Fleet Operations.

R27-1. Definitions.

R27-1-2. Definitions.

In addition to the terms defined in Section 63A-9-101, as used in Title 63A, Chapter 9, or these rules the following terms are defined.

(1) "Accident" means any occurrence, in which a state vehicle is involved in a mishap resulting in harm or injury to persons, or damage to property, regardless of total cost of treatments or repairs. It may also be referred to as an incident.

(2) "Accident Review Committee (ARC)" means the panel formed by each agency to review accidents in which agency employees are involved and make a determination as to whether or not said accidents were preventable.

(3) "Agency" has the same meaning as provided in Section 63A-9-101(1)(a),(b), and (c).

(4) "Agency Motor Vehicle Policy (AMV)" means any policy written by an agency that covers any agency-specific needs involving the use of a state vehicle that are not addressed by state vehicle rules. Agencies shall not adopt policies that are less restrictive than the State vehicle rules.

(5) "Alternative Fuel Vehicles (AFV)"means any vehicle designed and manufactured by an original equipment manufacturer or a converted vehicle designed to operate either on a dual-fuel, flexible-fuel, or dedicated mode while using fuels other than gasoline or diesel. Examples of alternative fuel types are electricity, bio-diesel, fossil-fuel hybrids, compressed natural gas, propane, hydrogen, methanol, ethanol, and any other vehicle fuel source approved by the Federal government's Department of Energy (DOE). AFVs shall be identified and tracked in DFO's fleet information system.

(6) "Authorized Driver" means any [individual]employee, as defined in Section 63-30d-102, of an agency who has been identified by [an]the agency in DFO's Fleet Information System as having the authority, within his or her scope of employment, to operate a state vehicle on the agency's behalf, who holds a valid driver license, and has completed the specific training and other criteria required by DFO, Risk Management or employing agency for the vehicle type that will be operated. An Authorized Driver may also be referred to as operator, employee or customer.

(7) "Authorized Passenger" means any state employee acting within the scope of his or her employment, or any other person or animal whose transport is either necessary for the performance of the authorized driver's employment duties, or has been pre-approved by the appropriate department head to accompany an authorized driver.

(8) "Capital only lease vehicle" means any vehicle with a lease designed to recover depreciation cost, (vehicle cost less salvage value spread over the estimated useful life of the vehicle, less the incremental cost of Alternative Fuel Configuration), plus overhead costs only. Capital only leases are subject to DFO approval.

(9) "Commute Use" means an employee driving a state vehicle from the employee's place of business to the employee's place of residence, until the start of the next business day for more than five calendar days per month.

(10) "Compressed Natural Gas Vehicle (CNG)" means any vehicle that may be fueled with compressed natural gas.

(11) "Department" means the Department of Administrative Services.

(12) "Division" has the same meaning as provided by Section 63A-9-101(3).

(13) "Driving Privilege Review Board (DPRB)" means the panel formed for the purpose of reviewing Accident Review Committee (ARC) decisions regarding the suspension, withdrawal or revocation of the state vehicle driving privilege.

(14) "Emergency Vehicle" means any state vehicle which is primarily used for the purpose of providing law enforcement and public safety services as defined in Section 53-12-102(3)(a) and (b), or fire service, or emergency medical services.

(15) "Expansion vehicle" means any vehicle purchased when an agency requires an additional vehicle in order to complete the duties assigned to the requesting agency and will increase the size of the state fleet. The purchase of an expansion vehicle requires legislative approval.

(16) "Extreme Duty Vehicle" a designation used for preventive maintenance purposes, means, but is not limited to, emergency vehicles and vehicles driven primarily off-road.

(17) "Feature" means any option or accessory that is available from the vehicle manufacturer.

(18) "Fixed costs" means, for the purposes of this rule, costs including depreciation, overhead, licensing, betterment, insurance, and title costs, as well as registration fees.

(19) "Fleet Vehicle Advisory Committee" means the panel formed for the purpose of advising DFO, after input form user agencies, as to the vehicle, included features, and equipment that will constitute the standard vehicle for each class in the fleet.

(20) "FO number" means a vehicle specific number assigned to each state vehicle for tracking purposes.

(21) "Fuel Network" means the state program that provides an infrastructure for fueling state vehicles.

(22) "Full Service Lease" means a type of lease designed to recover depreciation costs, overhead costs and all variable costs.

(23) "Heavy-duty Vehicle" means any motor vehicle having a gross vehicle weight range (GVWR) greater than 8,500 pounds. In addition to vehicles licensed for on road use, includes non-road vehicles, as defined in R27-1-2(31), with a GVWR greater than 8,500 pounds. Heavy-duty vehicles shall be tracked in DFO's fleet information system.

(24) "Light-duty Vehicle" means any motor vehicle having a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 8,500 pounds or less. In addition to vehicles licensed for on road use, includes non-road vehicles, as defined in R27-1-2(31), with a GVWR of 8.500 pounds or less. Light-duty vehicles shall be tracked in DFO's fleet information system.

(25) "Miscellaneous Equipment" means any equipment, enhancement or accessory that is installed on or in a motor vehicle by persons other than the original vehicle manufacturer, and other non-fleet related equipment. Includes, but is not limited to, light bars, 800 MHz radios, transits, surveying equipment, traffic counters, semaphores, and diagnostic related equipment. Miscellaneous Equipment shall be tracked in DFO's fleet information system.

(26) "Motor Pool" generally, means any vehicle that is made available to agencies for lease on a short-term basis.

(27 ) "Motor Vehicle" has the same meaning as provided by Section 63A-9-101(6)(a) and (b).

(28) "Motor Vehicle Review Committee (MVRC)" means the panel formed to advise the Division of Fleet Operations (DFO), as required by Subsection 63A-9-301(1). The duties of the MVRC are as specified in Section 63A-9-302.

(29) "Non-Preventable Accident" means any occurrence involving an accident/incident in which everything that could have been reasonably done to prevent it was done and the accident/incident still occurred. Non-preventable accidents shall include vandalism of state vehicles being used to conduct state business.

(30) "Non-road vehicle" means a vehicle, regardless of GVWR, that is not licensed for on-road use. Includes, but is not limited to, vehicles used principally for construction and other non-transportation purposes. Golf carts, farm tractors, snowmobiles, forklifts and boats are examples of vehicles in this category. Non-road vehicles shall be tracked in DFO's fleet information system.

(31) "Other Equipment" means vehicles and equipment not specifically identified in other standard reporting categories.

(32) "Personal Use" means the use of a state vehicle to conduct an employee's personal affairs, not related to state business.

(33) "Preventable Accident" means any occurrence involving a state vehicle, which results in property damage and/or personal injury, regardless of who was injured, what property was damaged, to what extent, or where it occurred, in which the authorized driver in question failed to do everything that could have reasonably been done to prevent it.

(a) Preventable accidents are not limited to collisions.

(b) As used in this rule, "preventable accidents" include, but are not limited to: damage to the interior of the state vehicle due to improperly locked doors, smoke or burn damage caused by smoking in the vehicle or lack of general care of the vehicles interior.

(34) "Preventive Maintenance (PM)" means vehicle services that are conducted at regular time intervals to deter mechanical breakdowns, including, but not limited to, lube, oil and filter changes.

(35) "Regular Duty Vehicle" a designation used for preventive maintenance purposes, means a vehicle that is driven primarily on paved roads under normal driving conditions.

(36) "Replacement cycle" means the criteria established to determine when the replacement of a state vehicle is necessary. A replacement cycle has a time and mileage element, and is established according to vehicle type and use.

(37) "Replacement vehicle" means a vehicle purchased to replace a state vehicle that has met replacement cycle criteria.

(38) "Service Level Agreement (SLA)" means an agreement, signed annually, between an agency and DFO in which the agency agrees to follow all rules, policies and procedures published by DFO concerning the use of state vehicles. This document also clearly defines the level of service between DFO and agencies.

(39) "State of Utah Fuel Card" means a purchase card issued to vehicles by the fuel network program, to be used when purchasing fuel. Fluids and minor miscellaneous items that may also be purchased with the "State of Utah Fuel Card" cannot exceed the monthly monetary limits placed on such purchases by DFO/Fuel Network, unless otherwise authorized.

(40) "Take-home vehicle" means a state vehicle assigned to be driven to and from an employee's place of residence and their assigned work location for more than five calendar days per month and the employee's use of the vehicle is a working condition benefit and not a taxable fringe benefit under the provisions of IRS bulletin 15-B.

([40]41) "State vehicle" for the purposes of this rule, has the same meaning as provided by Subsection 63A-9-101(7).

([41]42) "Unique Motorized Equipment" (UME) means high-cost vehicles and equipment such as trains; locomotives; airplanes; jets; mobile power stations and helicopters. Unique equipment shall be tracked in DFO's fleet information system.

([42]43) "Variable costs" means costs including, but are not limited to fuel, oil, tires, services, repairs, maintenance and preventive maintenance.

([43]44) "Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)" means the number issued by the vehicle manufacturer to identify the vehicle in the event of a theft; this number can be found on the driver's side of the dashboard below the windshield.

([44]45) "Vendor" means any person offering sales or services for state vehicles, such as preventive maintenance or repair services.

 

KEY: definitions

[January 23, 2002]2005

63A-9-401