After five months, the State of West Virginia's Auditor's Office has reported that it cannot accurately determine how many vehicles are in the state's fleet.

In July, the auditor's office announced that it was conducting a fleet audit to determine how many vehicles are in the fleet and whether this number of vehicles is necessary. Although the Fleet Management Office reported 7,700 vehicles in its fleet, there were 10,000 active state license plates issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and 12,000 vehicles covered by the Board of Risk and Insurance Management.

Looking at all three figures, the auditor's office concluded that none of these counts show an accurate portrayal of how many vehicles are maintained within the fleet.

The fleet office records its vehicle count through the Purchasing Division. But 37 agencies, including universities and the Parkways Authority, are exempt from Purchasing Division oversight. 

Of the state license plates issued by the DMV, the report found that as many as 1,680 were issued to non-state-owned vehicles, including public service agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), non-profits, and local governments within the state. 

The auditor's office was not able to determine vehicle count through the Board of Risk and Insurance Management either, as the board also insures equipment and heavy-duty vehicles. The board also reported several cases in which state agencies failed to update its vehicle count and the state continued to insure out-of-commission vehicles.

In the report, the auditor's office recommended that all agencies adopt a uniform policy for reporting vehicle counts within the state's asset management system. It also recommended that agencies report their vehicle count to Fleet Management once a year, which will then be presented in an annual fleet report for the Governor and Joint Committee on Government and Finance. Additional suggestions include changing the way the DMV titles and maintains its state vehicle registry and improving communication between state agencies and the Board of Risk and Insurance.

Read the full audit here.