Many local government agencies don’t have the money to pay claims to the injured party when a staff member gets involved in an accident while driving a government vehicle, Property and Procurement Commissioner Lynn Millin-Maduro said Monday at a Senate Finance Committee budget hearing on St. Thomas.
“We’ve been seeing an increase in fender benders,” Millin-Maduro said.
Unlike drivers of privately owned vehicles, who must buy insurance, the local government self-insures its vehicles.
According to Millin-Maduro, those drivers with claims against the government are waiting “far too long” for payment. She said that’s because the drivers of the government vehicles fail to report the accidents in a timely manner.
The government currently has 1,690 vehicles that come under the General Fund budget. Millin-Maduro said that another 395 are supported by federal funds.
Of those vehicles, 152 on St. Thomas/St. John and 149 on St. Croix are allowed to be used 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“Those vehicles are used by commissioners, assistant commissioners or are key vehicles,” Millin-Maduro said.
The government is currently getting ready to auction off 212 vehicles removed from the fleet under the government austerity program. Millin-Maduro said that when the next fiscal year starts Oct. 1, the government will look at where it can further reduce the number of government vehicles.
According to Millin-Maduro, in 2011 the government expects to spend $4.1 million on gas and diesel for its vehicles, up 25.1 percent over last year. She projected that government vehicles would consume 1 million gallons of gas and 238,222 gallons of diesel in fiscal year 2011, up 12.3 percent over last year.
Millin-Maduro was at the Legislature to defend her $4.8 million 2012 General Fund budget. The department also gets $1.9 million under the business and commercial fund and $248,909 from the Indirect Cost Fund.
The General Fund budget represents a 10.5 percent decrease over last year’s appropriation but Millin-Maduro said her department could still provide services despite the cut.
Millin-Maduro said that a plan to build a government complex on St. Thomas to consolidate offices is still on the burner. However, she suggested that one on the eastern end of the island and one on the western end would be more feasible.
“From Gov. Farrelly, there’s been some discussion about the government complex,” Sen. Carlton Dowe said, expressing frustration that there’s been talk about this project since the late Gov. Alexander Farrelly served in 1987 to 1995.
Dowe alleged that a serious effort to build the complex was not made because many of those renting space to the government contribute to political campaigns.
He also noted that because the government rents so much space, it drives the rental prices up. Dowe said this prevents would-be small business owners from going into business for themselves.
Dowe also told Millin-Maduro to cut in half the number of cell phones that her department uses. She said those 11 phones cost $1,600 a month.
In addition to Dowe, who chaired the meeting, and Sprauve, also in attendance were Sens. Janette Millin Young, Nereida Rivera-O’Reilly, Sammuel Sanes and Celestino White.
