Whatcom County Council Public Works and Health Committee

## MODULE S1: STUDY GUIDE **Meeting ID:** WHA-CON-PWH-2026-03-24 ### Meeting Overview The Whatcom County Council Public Works & Health Committee met on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, to receive a special presentation from Public Works staff about the Equipment Rental and Revolving Fund (ER&R), which manages the county's fleet of vehicles and equipment. Brett Peeple, Assistant Superintendent for Equipment Services, provided a comprehensive overview of how the county purchases, maintains, and replaces its fleet through this specialized fund. ### Key Terms and Concepts **Equipment Rental and Revolving Fund (ER&R):** A specialized fund mandated by state law that manages all county road fund equipment, vehicles, and supplies. Departments pay monthly rates to use vehicles and equipment, with those rates covering maintenance, repairs, and eventual replacement. **Original Equipment Cost (OEC):** The total cost to purchase a vehicle or piece of equipment and get it ready for service, including radios, lights, decals, and other modifications needed for county use. **Make Ready/Upfitting:** The process of modifying new vehicles after purchase to meet county operational needs, including installing radios, emergency lights, decals, and specialized equipment. **CRAB:** County Road Administration Board, the state agency that governs how counties must operate their equipment rental and revolving funds through RCW 36.33A and WAC Chapter 136-600. **Economic Lifecycle Analysis:** A replacement strategy that determines the optimal time to replace equipment based on operating costs, maintenance expenses, and return on investment, rather than waiting until equipment fails completely. **Equity:** The money accumulated in the ER&R fund for each piece of equipment after collecting monthly rates and paying for maintenance, which should be sufficient to purchase a replacement when the equipment reaches the end of its useful life. **Unit:** Fleet manager terminology for any vehicle, trailer, or piece of equipment managed by ER&R, used to avoid constantly saying "vehicles and equipment." **Damage Chargebacks:** Repair costs for damage that isn't considered normal wear and tear, such as hitting light poles or jumping curbs, which departments must pay for separately from their regular ER&R rates. ### Key People at This Meeting | Name | Role / Affiliation | |---|---| | Elizabeth Boyle | Committee Chair | | Barry Buchanan | Council Member | | Ben Elenbaas | Council Member | | Kaylee Galloway | Council Member | | Jessica Rienstra | Council Member | | Jon Scanlon | Council Member | | Mark Stremler | Council Member | | Brett Peeple | Assistant Superintendent for Equipment Services/Fleet Manager | | Garrett Randall | Superintendent M&O (Maintenance & Operations) | ### Background Context The Equipment Rental and Revolving Fund represents a state-mandated approach to fleet management that treats county equipment like an internal rental business. Rather than departments owning vehicles outright, they pay monthly rates to ER&R, which handles all purchasing, maintenance, repairs, and eventual replacement. This system is designed to ensure predictable costs and proper funding for vehicle replacement, avoiding the feast-or-famine cycle that can occur when departments try to manage their own fleets. The presentation comes at a time when the county is implementing significant improvements to its fleet management capabilities. The county recently invested in a new asset management system called AssetWorks, which is already showing improved efficiency and cost tracking. The county also faces upcoming challenges including fleet electrification requirements and the need to replace aging infrastructure like underground fuel tanks at the central shop. The ER&R fund operates on the principle that each piece of equipment should generate enough revenue through monthly rates to pay for its own maintenance and replacement over its lifetime. This prevents future budget crises where expensive equipment needs replacement but no funds are available. However, the system requires careful rate-setting and ongoing monitoring to ensure the fund remains balanced and departments aren't over or under-paying for their equipment. ### What Happened — The Short Version Brett Peeple walked the committee through how the county's fleet management system works behind the scenes. The county operates what's essentially an internal car rental business — departments pay monthly rates to use vehicles and equipment, and those payments cover everything from oil changes to buying new trucks when old ones wear out. The presentation covered how they calculate those monthly rates (using factors like expected maintenance costs and inflation), when they decide to replace equipment (typically 8 years for trucks, 10 for dump trucks, 15 for large equipment), and how they ensure each department has enough money saved up to buy new equipment when needed. Peeple highlighted several recent improvements, including a new computerized system that tracks maintenance in much more detail and has already increased productivity. He also discussed challenges like vehicles sitting too long waiting to be sold at auction (where they get damaged by weather and pests) and unexpected repair costs from accidents that departments have to pay separately. Council members asked questions about why the county is just now looking at motor pool options (answer: the new computer system finally makes it manageable) and whether all equipment has replacement costs built into rental rates (answer: yes for road equipment, still working on others). There was particular interest in streamlining the surplus process to get better returns on old equipment. ### What to Watch Next • Implementation of the new motor pool system, which could reduce the total number of vehicles the county needs to own • Potential changes to the surplus process to reduce the time vehicles sit unused before being sold • Development of a "crash fund" to help departments handle unexpected accident repair costs • Ongoing fleet electrification planning as state mandates approach ---