More County Employees Issued Take-Home Cars

[300miles]

More County Employees Issued Take-Home Cars
Aaron Saykin -- 5/1/2006

Some members of the Giambra Administration who lost their county take-home vehicle last year are once again driving county cars. In fact, records show that the list of those assigned a county take-home vehicle is growing.

In February 2005, at the height of the county's budget crisis, members of the Giambra Administration announced they were cutting the number of take-home cars the county hands out from 43 cars down to 26 -- a savings of $50,000 according to then-Budget Director Joe Passafiume.

Just over a year later, 2 On Your Side obtained an updated list of the county's take-home vehicles. It shows the number has risen from the 26 in 2005 to 33. All but two of them are trucks or SUVs.

And some officials who lost their take-home car in 2005 have it back, including Deputy County Executive Bruce Fisher and Parks Commissioner Angelo Sedita.

During a Monday morning press conference, 2 On Your Side's Lynne Dixon asked the County Executive why.

Giambra: "Because it was necessary."
Lynne Dixon: "Why was it necessary?"
Giambra: "Because somebody determined in our fleet management that it was more cost effective to put more cars out there than pay mileage re-imbursement."

The county buys its own tax-free gas. For that reason, Giambra said it's actually cheaper for workers to use county cars than to be reimbursed for using their own. His new budget director said some of the added cars were provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Administration officials also said some of the cuts made a year ago turned out to be unwise. And in some cases, it was simply not practical for those on-call 24 hours a day to be without their own county-issued cars.
Some legislators are not completely satisfied with the explanations.
"I think that the legislature was concerned about this already," Majority Leader Maria Whyte said.

Legislator Whyte said the legislature has already submitted a resolution demanding the Giambra Administration explain its policy for both take home cars and county-issued cell phones.

Giambra said the county has made major reform strides, announcing the recent efforts should even result in a $19 million surplus at year's end.
"This is very good news for the taxpayers of Erie County."

Legislator Dr. Barry Weinstein said the news is only good in one regard.
"And that's because they raised user fees," Weinstein said. "They included new user fees. They raised the sales tax twice. They raised property taxes 17 percent. There's been no real reform."

WGRZ

[WNYresident]

How much is mileage re-imbursement at the county level?

Plus we wouldn't pay mileage re-imbursement for the trip from home to the county office. I think that would be a tax deduction but not a mileage re-imbursement.

Hmm the cost of the vehicle, insurance and vehicle maintance people.

[Curmudgeon]

Sometimes it really does make sense to let these people take the cars home. With gas taxes at $0.65 a gallon, that is money EC forks over to the state upon employee reimbursement.

The solution is simple: For all county employees with take-home cars, stick giant "erie county official vechicle" decals on the side, and stick a light bar on top. Odds are, they'll use the car for it's intended purpose, and nothing else. You sure won't see it parked outside the bar at happy hour, that's for sure.

[300miles]

Possibly... but then the bigger question is still: Why are they getting re-imbursed at all?

Any public employee making over 60K a year can pay for their own gas and their own mileage.

[WNYresident]

Sometimes it really does make sense to let these people take the cars home. With gas taxes at $0.65 a gallon, that is money EC forks over to the state upon employee reimbursement.

The solution is simple: For all county employees with take-home cars, stick giant "erie county official vechicle" decals on the side, and stick a light bar on top. Odds are, they'll use the car for it's intended purpose, and nothing else. You sure won't see it parked outside the bar at happy hour, that's for sure.

How's this...

I'll create at my cost erie county seals that are 20" X 20" that will go on various take home cars. They should be proud they work for the county don't you think?

They will be of high quality like we do for businesses in the private sector.

[Crisco Kid]

"The county buys its own tax-free gas. For that reason, Giambra said it's actually cheaper for workers to use county cars than to be reimbursed for using their own. His new budget director said some of the added cars were provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security."

"Sometimes it really does make sense to let these people take the cars home. With gas taxes at $0.65 a gallon, that is money EC forks over to the state upon employee reimbursement."


Hmmm. Seems like someone has the wrong information.
#1. Can't be 33 people that need county cars 24/7.
#2. You need a county car for your daily job, fine, pick it up at the motor pool every day.
#3. No reembursement unless you've been directed to use your personal car.
#4. Wake up leeches the county can't afford these perks anymore.

[tomac]

How much is mileage re-imbursement at the county level?

Plus we wouldn't pay mileage re-imbursement for the trip from home to the county office. I think that would be a tax deduction but not a mileage re-imbursement.

Hmm the cost of the vehicle, insurance and vehicle maintance people.

Rez - It was about 27¢ per mile when I left the County. When I started, milage was figured by the amount of miles you drove, less the distance from your home to downtown. Needless to say, guys that lived in Buffalo made out better than guys that lived in Springville or Akron.
About the time Rutkowski got in (I think, but don't quote me), it was changed to include straight odometer milage. But at that time we also had Alfreda, who was notorious for cutting milage checks when she damn well felt like it, which could be a couple of months' wait if she didn't like the Commissioner of the Department. (she couldn't really get to him, so she'd take it out on the people that she worked for. One guy in our department got stiffed in 1975 for the whole summer's worth of driving - about $500 in 1975 dollars, nothing to sneeze at)

[tomac]

Sometimes it really does make sense to let these people take the cars home. With gas taxes at $0.65 a gallon, that is money EC forks over to the state upon employee reimbursement.

Point No municipality pays any taxes on fuel, period.

The solution is simple: For all county employees with take-home cars, stick giant "erie county official vechicle" decals on the side, and stick a light bar on top. Odds are, they'll use the car for it's intended purpose, and nothing else. You sure won't see it parked outside the bar at happy hour, that's for sure.

That'll work unless you get somebody like Doug Naylon (remember him? the thief of Aurora?) He was supposed to have County Seals on the doors of his pickup and a lightbar on the roof. Well, he had the emergency lights put in behind the grille with a removable one, powered via the cigarette lighter for his dashboard. The County Seals, instead of being decals applied directly to the doors, were applied to large rubberized magnets. That way, when he left to county to do a little private business on the side, he had the appearance of cruising around in his private vehicle.
And a couple of other Giambra appointees thought nothing about parking their county vehicles in front of the Roseland Bar on the West Side so you'll have to come up with another idea. Some of us were thinking about a special set of colors, maybe Red and Yellow, like the dark green and yellow that the maintenance vehicles used to carry. Make them look like Checker Cabs.

[granpabob]

in any other company you would drive to work and then get a car only if you needed it that day. if you were done with it in an hour you leave it at the motor pool so someone else can use it. to pay someone any thing to drive to and from work is insane. the problem is when your wife has the family car and the county car is in the driveway it will get use for that short trip to the store or to get the kids.
paint them all highway orange with tracking devices on them that record where they go. if it is moved after hours or goes some where that is not job related fire the person for grand theft auto or unauthorised use of a motor vehicle

[NoCtUrNaL]

The solution is simple: For all county employees with take-home cars, stick giant "erie county official vechicle" decals on the side, and stick a light bar on top. Odds are, they'll use the car for it's intended purpose, and nothing else. You sure won't see it parked outside the bar at happy hour, that's for sure.

Ha....I like it, add to that, all government owned take home vehicles should have a speaker attached to the roof and when the vehicle is started "Big Top Circus" music blares from it.

[WNYresident]

I still think everyone government employee should wear a jumpsuit uniform. Each town would get thier own color. There seems to be quite a few employeed and it would be nice to see our money at work wouldn't it?

[tomac]

I still think everyone government employee should wear a jumpsuit uniform. Each town would get thier own color. There seems to be quite a few employeed and it would be nice to see our money at work wouldn't it?

There were a few of Giambra appointees that I really wanted to see in orange jumpsuits.
The Commissioner of Public Works, the Deputy Commissioner for Highways, Doug Naylon, Pat Kennedy all come to mind, not to mention Giambra himself.

[Linda_D]

in any other company you would drive to work and then get a car only if you needed it that day. if you were done with it in an hour you leave it at the motor pool so someone else can use it. to pay someone any thing to drive to and from work is insane.

Even NYS government doesn't waste money like this. In fact, most state agencies no longer maintain their own fleets but request cars through OGS (Office of General Services) or rent cars as needed from local rental companies. The people who need county/state vehicles aren't the big shots in suits in the Rath Building but rather the field workers who are traveling around the county as part of their jobs (ie, health inspectors, engineers, etc.)

[Linda_D]

The solution is simple: For all county employees with take-home cars, stick giant "erie county official vechicle" decals on the side, and stick a light bar on top. Odds are, they'll use the car for it's intended purpose, and nothing else. You sure won't see it parked outside the bar at happy hour, that's for sure.

I got a better idea. Let the Rath Building denziens squeeze their behinds into the current equivalent of Yugos -- small, low end, no frills cars that they'll be embarassed to be seen driving and which have "Official" plates front and back.

[Curmudgeon]

The people who need county/state vehicles aren't the big shots in suits in the Rath Building but rather the field workers who are traveling around the county as part of their jobs (ie, health inspectors, engineers, etc.)

Absolutely. And, the only take-home cars should be guys who are on call 24/7 or work/live in remote areas of the county where gettingto/from the official car is a waste of time and gas. Cars given as perks is absurd.