Salt Lake County leaders are tightening their grip on the beleaguered fleet, stripping the vehicle division of its independence and rewriting a long list of policies.

A draft of the division's new rules hint at a closely scrutinized future for the fleet, which has been mired in allegations of scandal, waste and mismanagement for the past year.

That will soon change with the revised 20-page policy manual — which will be circulated and finalized later this week — and a new Fleet Management Board to oversee everything the fleet division buys, sells or decides.

"No one in the organization really felt it was their job to police the organization and pull the trigger to make those changes," assistant public works director Jason Godfrey said. "The board makes someone responsible to execute and implement the policies."

That lack of oversight fueled a slew of scandals in the county's fleet department this year ranging from county employees taking fleet vehicles on personal vacations, fleet managers getting questionable amounts of overtime pay and a fleet supervisor facing allegations of running an illegal DVD business out of fleet headquarters.

The fleet's director Nick Morgan also retired after being placed on administrative leave during an investigation into questionable mileage reports and travel vouchers.

"The last two fleet managers have left in less than favorable circumstances," said Victor Sipos, special assistant to the county auditor. "There has been some feeling that they didn't understand what was going on. They didn't know if the county's best interest was being represented."

But Godfrey said the new board will curb some of the poor management that led to the string of scandals.

The board will have five members — one from the mayor's office, the public, the County Council, the auditor's office and a division that uses fleet vehicles. Along with approving any expansion of the fleet and all upgrades, the board will also monitor the fund balance of the fleet.

That balance surged to $10 million this year because of exorbitant charges to user agencies, Godfrey said.

"The real change is to say here are the stewards who are going to make sure these policies are followed," he said. "The main thing is just to make sure it's an objective and a transparent process."

The new policy will also rein in unnecessary purchases by creating a preferred list of vehicles for the fleet. In the past, fleet supervisors were able to purchase any vehicle as long as it was on the state's list of approved government cars.

"The organizations would say 'Ooh, I want that car,' and they could pretty much get it," he said. "That's how we get in the situation where we have a bunch of SUVs because everybody wants that instead of a less sexy car."