University Vehicle Purchasing Procedures

General Guidelines

As of November 15, 2005, the State of Kansas lifted its statewide vehicle moratorium. However, in keeping with guidance from the State, the University continues to operate without change to the number of vehicles in our fleet (highway worthy vehicles) such as passenger cars, pickup trucks, and vans.

Approval for all University of Kansas vehicle purchase requests shall be coordinated through the Provost Office. The Provost Office is responsible for creating an equitable and cohesive strategy for our vehicle acquisition.

Financial Services is responsible for working with campus departments to complete all approved vehicle purchases.

Procedures

A. Approval Procedures

Continuing with the guidelines established during the vehicle moratorium: 

1. Only replacement vehicles may be requested.
   • New vehicle type must be similar to replaced vehicle.
   • Either new or used vehicles may be purchased as replacements. If a used vehicle is requested, it must both replace an existing vehicle and be approved for purchase in advance.
2. State mileage requirements for any vehicle replacement are:
   • Passenger vehicle mileage must exceed 100,000.
   • Pickup truck mileage must exceed 140,000.
   • Cargo vans mileage must exceed 140,000.
   • Minivans are charged to the 17083 account, but can be replaced at 100,000 miles.

     NOTE – A vehicle showing less mileage than listed above but in poor operating condition and/or one requiring significant expense (more than 30% of the purchase price of a replacement) to operate in a safe manner may be requested for replacement.

The following information is required for each vehicle that is proposed for replacement:

Completed State Vehicle Purchase Request Form

• Page 1 must be completed in its entirety. Please note the following key highlights for page 1:
  • Vehicle Replacement Justification – “Current Mileage” pertains to the mileage of the vehicle to be replaced.
  • Requested Vehicle - “Funding” – Indicate the amount of purchase on the line labeled “Other”. NOTE – Except under extraordinary circumstances, the University will not use monies from the State General Fund to purchase motor vehicles.
• Page 2 should be completed for the following circumstances
  • Vehicle Upgrade Request (e.g. replacing a car with a minivan or a pickup truck with a SUV).
  • Requested price differs from the base contract price because of optional features and/or add-ons.

The request can be sumitted via hard copy or an electronic version.

Additional Information needed for Vehicle replacement includes: 

• Assigned Custodian - (i.e., Sub-unit within the University that “owns” the vehicle).
• How the vehicle is used:
  • Purpose; and
  • Frequency.
• Maintenance concerns presented by vehicle.
• Miscellaneous information that should be known in order to evaluate and prioritize the request among all the requested vehicle replacements for the campus.

This information may be submitted as a separate attachment along with the vehicle purchase request form.

If there are extenuating circumstances, a unit may request acquisition of a vehicle that would increase the number of vehicles in the university fleet. Extenuating circumstances would include aspects impacting the health and safety of the campus community, or where the unit’s productivity has been hampered because of a vehicle limitation. In such cases, the unit will be expected to document that funding is available to provide for the purchase and ongoing vehicle maintenance costs.

B. Purchase Procedures

Vehicle Purchase Orders

After the unit receives vehicle purchase approval, the unit is responsible for submitting requisition in FITC which will generate a purchase order to the vendor.

Vehicle Delivery, Tags, Titles & Registration

When department takes physical delivery of the vehicle, the vendor is required to provide the department with a Certificate of Origin (for new vehicles) or Certificate of Title (for used vehicles).

Immediately after delivery, copies of the Certificate of Origin or Certificate of Title, vehicle approval, and copies of purchase documents (i.e., invoice, bill of sale, etc.) showing the vendor, date of purchase (not delivery), and purchase price must be sent to Jen Bedford or Tanya Childers at KU Vehicle Maintenance. KU Vehicle Maintenance is responsible for ordering tags from Topeka (turnaround time is usually 2-3 days). A temporary tag issued by the vendor may be used while waiting to receive the vehicle tag from Topeka.

Departments are responsible for titling all vehicles including trailers with a load capacity of 2,000 lbs or more. The State of Kansas also currently titles all terrain vehicles (ATVs)) such as the John Deere Gator, Kawasaki Mule, and similar type vehicles. However, the State does not require heavy equipment, mowers, skid loaders, tractors, and other non-tagged construction or agricultural equipment to be titled. The cost to title a vehicle is currently $10.00 (subject to change).

The following steps are required to title a vehicle.

1. 1. A FITC invoice is created in the amount of $10.00 (subject to change) payable to the Douglas County Treasurer (FITC supplier name “Douglas County”; FITC Supplier number “0000002423”; FITC Supplier Site “CKORRE01-ORDER”).  The Delivery Channel on the FITC invoice must be “Pick Up Checks in Accounting.”  Enter contact information for the person receiving the check in “Message 2” of the Remittance Message area. Do not allow the check to be mailed. This FITC invoice should be made immediately after delivery, as there is a 30-day deadline to get the vehicle titled. There is a penalty if the title is not paid within 30 days.
2. When the department receives the check, an employee will need to hand deliver it to the Douglas County Treasurer's Office. They will need to take the following:
   • $10.00 check;
   • Certificate of Origin; and
   • Proof of Insurance form (contact Director of Risk Management at mrosenburg@ku.edu if a copy is needed;
   • Identification (e.g. driver's license).

     Vehicles must be titled to the University of Kansas. The department representative will receive a receipt from the Douglas County Treasure’s Office, and a Certificate of Title will be mailed to the department in approximately 4 weeks.

3. When department receives the title in mail, they should keep a copy and have the original hand delivered to:
   Wendy Reese, Property Accounting
   Strong Hall, Room 225
   1450 Jayhawk Blvd.
   Lawrence, KS 66045
   
   All original titles are maintained centrally Financial Services.

Official state vehicles are NOT registered in Douglas County. Registration fees for State vehicles are assessed by the Central Motor Pool, once per year, based on the December 31st inventory. For every state vehicle owned by KU on December 31st of a given year, the required registration fee will be billed to the KU Vehicle Maintenance Office. On approximately April 1st, KU Vehicle Maintenance Office will rebill fees to the department that owned the vehicle on December 31st. Registration fees are not collected at any other time for officially licensed state vehicles.

Departments are encouraged to have blue or white KU decals applied to University of Kansas vehicles.

Installation can be arranged, free of charge, by calling the Facilities Services Garage at 785-864-3628. Current state policy prohibits any other decals or stickers from being applied to University of Kansas vehicles without the advance, written approval of the Secretary of Administration.

C. Disposal Procedures

Departments are expected to work with the Property Accounting Office regarding options for disposal of their replaced vehicles. Department must submit a “Disposition of Property (DA-110)” form to Property Accounting Office for vehicles they are replacing. NOTE - Approval of the DA-110 must be received before the vehicle is advertised as surplus. Additionally, if the department decides to negotiate a trade-in as part of their vehicle purchase, the department is responsible for Wendy Reese, Property Accounting, in Financial Services as soon as possible as there are additional procedures that must be completed.

Prior to disposal, be sure to remove any KU decals, identifiers and other personal property.

When you retire your old vehicles, remove both the front and rear official plates and send both plates to Jen Bedford or Tanya Childers at the KU Vehicle Maintenance, 1505 Westbrooke, Lawrence, KS 66049. KU Vehicle Maintenance will send the plates to Topeka and get the vehicle removed from the annual registration list.

The old plates need to be surrendered as soon as possible after the new vehicle is placed in service.

To avoid paying next year’s registration fees on retired vehicles, the plates need to be delivered to KU Vehicle Maintenance no later than December 15th as fees are assessed each year based on the December 31st inventory.

NOTE - If  either or both plates are missing, a policy report must be filed on the missing plate(s) in order to get the vehicle removed from the registration list.

D. Vehicle Insurance

Vehicles acquired throughout the year are automatically covered.  Departments are required to submit all yearly changes during the University's annual insurance renewal process. The proof of insurance, provided above to the Douglas County Treasurer's Office to obtain a certificate of title, should be placed in the vehicle in a location that is secure and easy to locate.

E. Resource Contacts