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Policy# GA-19, Fuel Purchasing Policy
Deschutes County Administrative Policy No. GA-19
Effective Date:
FUEL PURCHASING POLICY
STATEMENT OF POLICY
It is the policy of Deschutes County that employees be fiscally responsible and
accountable for fuel purchased for County vehicles.
APPLICABILITY
This policy applies to all County departments and County service districts whose finances
and personnel systems are maintained by the County. The policy applies to the purchase
of fuel with fuel purchase cards, from County fueling station(s), or from retail locations
(through employee reimbursement).
POLICY AND PROCEDURE
Fuel-purchasing options for County employees using County vehicles are as follows:
• County fueling station - Located at the Road Department, fuel from this location
is charged directly by the Road Department to the department assigned to the
vehicle.
• Fuel purchasing card – Departments may have gas cards for use at area cardlock
locations or at area retail fuel locations.
• Fuel purchase reimbursement - Employees may pay for the purchase of fuel and
submit a voucher, along with the receipt for the purchase, for reimbursement.
• Regular gasoline shall be the only allowable grade with mid-grade allowed if
regular is not available or if the County Fleet Services Manager (or equivalent)
determines that a higher grade of gasoline is required for a particular vehicle.
Departments may establish departmental fuel purchasing policies that meet the following
criteria, which are intended to minimize costs and monitor overall usage. In the absence
of a departmental policy, the following guidelines shall apply to all employees and
departments:
Fueling Guidelines
• Purchases of fuel by employees through Road dept fueling station, fuel card, or
reimbursement shall be for County vehicles only.
• Distance and time to the nearest fueling station should be minimized to reduce
overall cost of refueling
• Periodically comparing prices for fuel from the County fueling station, cardlock
and retail locations and choosing the least overall cost option.
Fuel Purchase Cards
• Authorization of gas cards, recordkeeping for gas cards and fuel costs, and
custody of gas cards should be segregated. Department heads should approve all
vendor relationships.
• If gas cards are used, a card shall be assigned to a specific vehicle.
Policy# GA-19, Fuel Purchasing Policy
o When possible, gas card purchase numbers should correspond to license
plate numbers or County assigned vehicle numbers.
o Gas cards for diesel vehicles shall be assigned by “E-plate”.
Note: Some cardlock vendors can issue a gas card with a specific PIN number
linked to the employee. This may allow greater flexibility in assignment of gas
cards.
• All gas cards and associated PIN numbers shall be secured when not in use
• Vendor records shall be updated when cards are no longer in use.
• Gas cards shall be limited to fuel purchases only. Most card issuers provide this
option, as well as other filtering options, such as:
o Department heads or their designee may limit fuel card purchases to a
maximum number of gallons per transaction or within a certain time
period.
o Department heads or their designee may limit fuel card purchases to
certain hours of the day or certain days of the week.
• Departments shall make periodic inquiries to gas card issuers regarding optional
pricing programs.
• Some variation in above criteria may be allowable if department is able to meet
all of the monitoring considerations (below) and receives approval from County
Administration in writing.
Monitoring considerations
• Departments shall establish a sufficient method to monitor and evaluate the
mileage rate for each departmental vehicle. Any unusual fluctuation should be
investigated. This will require attributing fuel card purchases, County fuel
purchases, and employee fuel purchases to each car.
• Each department shall periodically review fuel cost and mileage reimbursement
costs to ensure they are minimizing transportation costs.
• A vehicle mileage log may be used to collect the quantity and amount of fuel
purchased by vehicle type and fueling options.
• Accurately record vehicle number and vehicle mileage information on each refill
to ensure relevant tracking information is captured.
Other Departmental Policies and Procedures
• If a non-departmental employee uses a vehicle, a means of interdepartmental
reimbursement should be established.
Approved by the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners _______, 2009.
________________________
Dave Kanner
County Administrator