Commissioners Approve New Gas Card System

The Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office has been using the Fuelman fleet gas card system since last August.

Tuesday, county commissioners’ felt they had found a similar card-based system that was better.

By a 4-0 vote, commissioners agreed to a no-obligation contract with the Exxon/Mobil Universal Program through the county’s interlocal agreement with the Harris County Department of Education.

Lisa Patterson, a representative with the program, said it worked much like the Fuelman system with cards that could be used at numerous gasoline stations throughout Van Zandt County.

The major difference, Patterson said, was in the cost per gallon.

"With Fuelman, the county is paying the OPIS (Oil Price Information Service) average plus 13 cents per gallon," she said. "The problem with that is it is virtually impossible to verify that price."

The Exxon/Mobil Universal Program, she said, is based on the pump price minus 18.6 cents per gallon federal excise tax, for which the county has an exemption.

In addition, the county would get a rebate of about four cents per gallon for fuel bought at any Exxon or Mobil station.

"On average, I found you have been paying about eight cents per gallon over the pump price through Fuelman," Patterson said.

She also touted the program’s billing terms, monthly instead of the weekly billing with Fuelman, and with the monthly bill not being due until the 26th or 27th of the following month.

County auditor John Shinn gave the commissioners information on a state-operated fleet fueling program through a MasterCard system with an across-the-board 1 percent rebate on fuel purchases. However, it drew no interest from any of the commissioners before the vote.

In other matters in Tuesday’s meeting, the court took the following action:

— Approved two plats at the Haven of Memories Cemetery.

— Adopted a resolution to the state legislature regarding the undervaluation of oil and gas properties.

— Approved county participation in online auctions through the Web site AuctioneerExpress.com.

— Approved the taking of sealed bids and posting on AuctioneerExpress.com to sell used equipment, including a loader, Boomax and loader/maintainer combination, from Precinct 1.

— Authorized final payment to J. Houser Construction on construction of the Precinct 3 Van Zandt County office facility.

— Authorized Van Zandt County Appraisal District Chief Appraiser Brenda Barnett to calculate and publish the effective tax rate for the 2009 tax year.

— Approved budget amendments for District Attorney Leslie Dixon, Precinct 2 Constable C.B. Wiley, Precinct 4 Constable Pat Jordan and Precinct 1 Commissioner Ricky LaPrade.

— Adopted a set of revisions to the Van Zandt County Employee Handbook and Personnel Policy Manual regarding pay practices, vacation days and travel expenses.