Use of County Vehicle

Personal Use Policy

The Wake County Board of Commissioners has adopted the following "No Personal Use Policy" regarding personal use of employer provided vehicles. This policy prohibits personal use of County owned vehicles by employees of Wake County per G.S. 14-247 and directs that the use of the vehicle meet these five conditions:

(1)        the vehicle is owned or leased by the County and is provided to one or more employees for use in connection with official County business;

(2)        when the vehicle is not used for official County business, it is kept on County premises or at a GSA Fleet Operations authorized satellite location, unless it is temporarily located elsewhere, for example, for maintenance or because of a mechanical failure;

(3)        no employee using the vehicle lives at any County premises;

(4)        under a written policy of the County, neither an employee, nor any individual whose use would be taxable to the employee may use the vehicle for personal purposes, except for minimal personal use; and

(5)        County management reasonably believes that, except for minimal use, neither the employee, nor any individual whose use would be taxable to the employee, uses the vehicle for any personal purpose.

Commuting

The Wake County Board of Commissioners has adopted the following "Policy Statement on Commuting."

(1)        The vehicle is owned or leased by the County and is provided to one or more employees for use in connection with official County business and is used in connection with official County business;

(2)        for bona fide non compensatory business reasons, the County requires the employee to commute to and/or from work in the vehicle;

(3)        the County has established a written policy under which neither the employee, nor any individual whose use would be taxable to the employee, may use the vehicle for personal purposes, other than for commuting or minimal personal use (such as a stop for a personal errand on the way between an official business activity and the employee's home);

(4)        County management reasonably believes that except for minimal personal use, neither the employee nor any individual whose use would be taxable to the employee uses the vehicle for an personal purpose other than commuting; and

(5)        the employee required to use the vehicle for commuting is not a control employee of the County. However, if the vehicle the control employee commutes in is not an automobile, then this restriction does not apply. (A control employee of the County is any of the following:

(a)        elected official

(b)        federal employee who is appointed by the President and confirmed by the senate, or

(c)        state or local executive officer comparable to individuals described in (a) or (b) immediately above.)

If the above requirements (1) through (5) are met, the commuting use is valued at the prevailing IRS rate per one-way commute (e.g., from home to work or from work to home, currently $1.50). The $3.00 round trip value is added to the employee's gross pay as imputed income for each round trip completed so that taxes can be calculated and withheld. The $3.00 round trip value is NOT added to net pay. If there is more than one employee who commutes in the vehicle, then the amount includable in each employee's income is the prevail­ing IRS rate per one-way commute.

An employee who commutes in a County-owned vehicle must have authorization from their Department Head, GSA Fleet Operations, and Finance/Payroll. Only Wake County employees may drive the vehicle unless authorized by Wake County Risk Management and the authorization is communicated to GSA Fleet Operations.