2004-01-AU Hawai‘i County Police Department Vehicles

Home

B. Current Vehicle Allowance Costs The FY2003 -04 County operating budget ref ec is a total of 396 car al I owances for 298" Group I" vehicles and 98 "Group 11" vehicles, respectively. The disparity between actual and budgeted car al I owances reflects vacant but funded positions in the department. A current operating budget summary for the Pot i ce Department's " M i I eage & A uto A l l owancd' i s shown bd ow: POLICE MILEAGE& AUTO ALLOWANCE Account: 5203.02 -112 FY2001 -02 FY2002 -03 FY2003 -04 Actual Budget Estimate $2,018,897 $2,201,740 $ 2,290,788 -- Itemized Expenses for FY2003 -04 -- A. Group I: $488 x 298 vehicles x 12 mos . ........ ............................... $ 1,745,088 B. Group ll: $450 x 98 vehicles x 12 mos . ........ ............................... $ 529,200 C. Mileage: ...................................................... ............................... $ 16,500 $ 2,290,788 The FY2003 -04 operati ng budget shown above and approved by the Counci I on June 4, 2003 does not include a $475,200 annual increase in the motor vehicle al I owance requested by SHOPO. SHOPO supports an i ncrease as the vehi cl a al I owance has not been rai sed duri ng the past ei ght years. I n a I etter (Communi cati on N o. 140.3) dated M arch 13, 2003 to Fi nance Commi ttee Chai r A aron Chung, SH OPO H aNai ` i Chapter Chairman Emory J. Springer stated that he had met with Mayor Kim on several occasions and "asked for an increase in the motor vehi d e al I owance." He expressed his support for the department's budget" as long as the language i nd udes the request for an increase in vehicle allowance." I f SH OPO' s requested vehi cl a al I owance i ncrease had been approved, H aNai ` i County's Pot i ce M i I eage and Auto A I I owance FY2003 -04 budget would have totaled $2,765,988. That amount would have represented a26% increase over the FY2002 -03 budget amount of $2,201,740. C. Insurance Costs Current FY2002 -03 insurance premiums for county police vehicles total $661,371 ($1,956.72 x 338 police vehicles) . A prior " I oss run" study by A on Insurance Managers, Inc. cited by the Finance Department's Purchasi ng Secti on i ndi Cates that from 19942003, i nsurance premi ums for subsi di zed H PD vehicles averaged $374,000 with total annual losses averaging $292,000. The resulting 78% " I oss ratio" — consi dered steep by i nsurance i ndustry standards — coupl ed with a hi gh i nd dence of acci dents i ncurred by police officers led to the cancellation of the department's no-fault insurance policy by TI G Crum and Foster, Inc. effective March 1, 2002. At that time, the county's no-fault insurance policy was $428,400 and covered 360 pot i ce off i cers dri vi ng on and off duty i n subsi di zed cars. I n a H onol ul u Star- Bul I eti n arti d e dated January 23, 2003, A ssi stant Pol i ce Chi of Larry M ahuna stated: " I guess there were too many d ai ms aged nst our off cers dri vi ng subsi di zed vehi d es i n terms of el ther injuries to themsel ves or others. They [TIG Crum and Forster I nc.] referenced 39 cases they had to pay out." The 39 cl ai ms represented an acci dent rate exceedi ng 10 percent. "When you accumulate that much," M ahuna said, " I guess the insurance company is saying, basically, `You're not a good ri sk. "' H e added that he di dn' t thi nk the acci dent rate of off i cers ref ected dri vi ng "worse than the publ i c at I age. I j ust thi nk that's j ust a nature of pot i ce work," he sai d. " The more ti mes you respond i n an emergency mode, the more chance you have of getti ng i nto an acci dent."