FRANKFORT, Ky.— The Finance and Administration Cabinet today announced that nearly 700 state-owned vehicles would be surrendered and sold at auction in response to the vehicle reductions mandated by the Biennial Budget. This number is in addition to the 500-vehicle reduction that Governor Patton directed by executive order in December 2002.

House Bill 269, which is the Appropriations Bill, states that “The Secretary of the Finance and Administration Cabinet, pursuant to KRS 44.045, shall further reduce the number of state vehicles assigned to agencies by an additional 500 vehicles directed to be reduced under Executive Order 2002-1334.”

Agencies were asked to make an approximate 15 percent reduction in their agency-owned fleets of vehicles, as indicated by the Transportation Cabinet’s central inventory. This reduction was targeted in agency-owned fleets of mostly specialized vehicles, because the earlier 500-vehicle reduction was taken from passenger cars and pickups assigned to agencies from the Statewide Motor Pool. However, agencies were permitted to meet their targets through either a reduction to agency-owned or agency assigned vehicles.

“I wish to recognize the efforts of the agencies in surpassing our vehicle reduction goals,” said Finance and Administration Cabinet Secretary Gordon C. Duke. “We aggressively set our target for reductions and we are very pleased with the response we received.”

Elimination of these vehicles will generate immediate revenue and reduce future costs for the Commonwealth. In February 2003, an auction of more than 250 surplus state vehicles brought in $772,275 to the state treasury. A second auction held in March generated an additional $770,064. In addition to this revenue, the state projected an annual savings of an additional $225,000 in yearly maintenance costs, $125,000 in insurance premiums and $612,000 in reduced spending for fuel for these 500 vehicles. By not replacing these vehicles in the next few years, the state will save an additional $9 million.

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