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Take away the car
keys Published in the Asbury Park Press 01/29/05The Monmouth County freeholder board is again looking at the county's fleet of vehicles as a way to reduce its proposed $435 million budget for 2005. At about $8,600 per car, based on last year's experience, the vehicles are a drop in the bucket. But every dollar counts, especially those involving indefensible employee perks.Last year, 93 of 374 employees who rank below department head were told to give up their county cars, saving taxpayers $800,000. This year, the freeholders are focusing on the 52 county-owned cars provided to department heads, 39 of whom are allowed to take them home each night. The current plan is to eventually reduce that number by about 25 percent: four this year and 12 through attrition over time. That isn't good enough. No department head should be issued a county car unless it can be demonstrated that the cost of providing one is less than the reimbursement cost for mileage and depreciation. Cars should not be used as perks, which is clearly the case with many department heads. Why, for instance, does Romeo Cascaes, the public information officer, need a county car? Cascaes is about to retire. County Administrator Louis Paparozzi has determined that his successor and three other new department heads will not be getting county cars. Freeholder Director Thomas J. Powers says eliminating the use of county-owned cars may hurt morale and violate a promise made to employees when they were hired. Nonsense. The cars are perks that the county has a perfect right to take away. There is just one test the freeholders should use in deciding whether department heads should be issued county cars: Does it make economic sense? Once they've answered that question, they should pose a related one: Why does the county have 52 departments? Yahoo! Groups Links
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