Assignment of vehicles to state agency officers or employees - report to legislative audit committee - definition.

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(1) Notwithstanding section 24-30-1102 (5), as used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires, "state agency" means the state or any department, board, bureau, commission, institution, or other agency of the state; except that "state agency" does not include any state institution of higher education, the Auraria higher education center, or the legislative and judicial branches of state government. As used in this section, "state agency" does include the state board of stock inspection commissioners, created in section 35-41-101.

(2) (a) The executive director of a state agency or the executive director's designee may assign a state-owned motor vehicle that has been assigned to the state agency pursuant to section 24-30-1112 to an officer or employee of the state agency for conducting state business and commuting. Commuting includes traveling from an officer's or employee's personal residence to one or more regular places of business but does not include traveling away from home as defined by the federal internal revenue service. A state-owned motor vehicle may be parked at the personal residence of an officer or employee of a state agency for more than one day per month only if the state agency has assigned the vehicle to the officer or employee pursuant to this section or if the officer or employee is using the vehicle to travel away from home. An officer or employee shall not use a state-owned motor vehicle for commuting unless such use is authorized pursuant to this section. The assignment of a state-owned motor vehicle pursuant to this section must comply with the requirements of section 24-30-1112.

(b) The executive director of a state agency or the executive director's designee must authorize the assignment of a vehicle in writing and submit the authorization and any supporting documentation to the executive director of the department of personnel for final approval. The executive director of a state agency or the executive director's designee shall authorize the assignment of a vehicle only if:

  1. Assignment of the vehicle is necessary to conduct official and legitimate state business;

  2. Assignment of the vehicle satisfies at least one of the following requirements:

  1. The vehicle meets the federal internal revenue service definition of qualified nonpersonal use, as specified in 26 CFR 1.274-5 (k); or

  2. The assignment of the vehicle is the most cost-efficient means of transportation, asdefined in rules adopted by the department of personnel, to the state agency; and

(III) Assignment of the vehicle complies with any additional criteria established in rules adopted by the department of personnel.

(c) An executive director of a state agency or the executive director's designee who authorizes the assignment of a state-owned motor vehicle to an officer or employee of the state agency shall maintain documentation of the assignment, including the executive director's justification for authorizing the assignment of the vehicle. At least annually, the executive director of a state agency or the executive director's designee shall review each assignment of a vehicle to ensure that the assignment complies with the requirements of this section.

  1. The executive director of the department of personnel or the state controller, or thedesignee of either official, as applicable, shall review any assignment of a state-owned motor vehicle to an officer or employee of a state agency. The executive director of the department of personnel or the state controller, or the designee of either official, as applicable, shall verify that the assignment of the vehicle complies with the requirements specified in subsection (2) of this section and the regulations of the federal internal revenue service. If the review establishes that the assignment of a vehicle does not comply with such requirements, the executive director of the department of personnel shall revoke the assignment of the vehicle.

  2. In addition to the initial approval required by subsection (3) of this section, the department of personnel shall establish a program and adopt rules providing for annual review and verification by the executive director of the department of personnel or the state controller, or the designee of either official, as applicable, that each state-owned motor vehicle assigned to an officer or employee of a state agency still complies with the requirements of subsection (2) of this section and the regulations of the federal internal revenue service. The requirements of this subsection (4) apply to all state-owned motor vehicles, whether they were assigned before, on, or after September 1, 2017. If the verification process establishes that the assignment of a vehicle no longer complies with subsection (2) of this section or the regulations of the federal internal revenue service, the department of personnel shall revoke the assignment of the vehicle.

  3. Any officer or employee of a state agency who is assigned a state-owned motor vehicle because it is the most cost-efficient means of transportation as specified in subsection (2)(b)(II)(B) of this section is required to pay income tax on the value of the fringe benefit of the vehicle. The state controller, or the state controller's designee, shall calculate and report as income the value of the fringe benefit of the vehicle in accordance with the regulations of the federal internal revenue service. The state controller shall promulgate rules regarding how the value of the fringe benefit will be calculated and reported.

  4. The executive director of the department of personnel, or the executive director'sdesignee, and the state controller, or state controller's designee, shall promulgate rules as required in this section and may promulgate additional rules deemed necessary for the implementation of this section. Such rules shall be promulgated in accordance with article 4 of this title 24.

  5. Repealed.

Source: L. 92: Entire section added, p. 1004, § 3, effective July 1. L. 2004: (1) and (4) amended, p. 308, § 7, effective August 4. L. 2017: Entire section R&RE, (HB 17-1296), ch. 293, p. 1615, § 2, effective September 1. L. 2018: IP(2)(b), (3), (4), and (6) amended, (HB 18-1375), ch. 274, p. 1708, § 41, effective May 29. L. 2020: (2)(a) amended, (SB 20-071), ch. 5, p. 7, § 1, effective September 14.

Editor's note: Subsection (7)(b) provided for the repeal of subsection (7), effective July 1, 2020. (See L. 2017, p. 1615.)


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