DOA: Governor Doyle Announces Fleet Reduction

Contacts:
Scott Larrivee, Department of Administration, 608-266-7362, (cell) 608-338-9846

Ethnie Groves, Office of the Governor, 608-261-2156

Initiative Returns State Car Fleet to 1994 Levels

Fleet Auctions Generated $3.2 Million

Governor Jim Doyle announced today that his Fleet Reduction Initiative has returned Wisconsin’s state car fleet to 1994 levels and turned back the clock on years of wasteful spending. Accomplished through a series of public auctions and sales, the reduction eliminated underutilized and older vehicles from the fleet to streamline operations and control costs.

“In less than one year, my Administration put a decade’s worth of wasteful spending on the auction block,” Governor Doyle said. “Now, with the fleet back at a sensible level, we will continue hold the line on the state’s inventory, and make additional improvements to ensure that taxpayer dollars are being used wisely.”

Announced in June 2004, the Governor’s Initiative ended the wasteful tax-and-spend pattern of the 1990s that grew the fleet by nearly 19 percent from 1994 to 2003 – well beyond what was needed to conduct the state’s business.

“Since inheriting a record $3.2 deficit, I’ve taken significant steps to restore financial priorities to state government,” Governor Doyle said. “For the fleet, this meant selling off our surplus, changing bad habits, and applying commonsense changes to save money.”

The Fleet Reduction auctions generated gross proceeds of $3,228,261. The vast majority of vehicles sold at the auctions were passenger sedans and the three most common were the Ford Taurus (172 cars), Dodge Neon (104), and Ford Taurus station wagon (90).

The average reduction car had a selling price of $3,570 and mileage of 83,193. Overall, the state-owned vehicles sold for 12 percent above Black Book value. Black Book is the commonly accepted pricing guide for vehicles sold at public auctions.

The State of Wisconsin now has 6,179 vehicles in its fleet.

Additional information about the auctions is available from the Department of Administration Surplus Property Program’s website at http://www.doa.state.wi.us/section_detail.asp?linkcatid=20.