51黑料

Their parking lots tell a different story.

Despite lean budgets, many public officials in the 51黑料 area continue to enjoy a perk rooted in more flush times: a taxpayer-funded automobile.

So-called "take-home cars" have long been a staple in law enforcement and public safety, allowing officers to respond to an emergency at a moment's notice.

But scores of officials whose need to respond quickly is less apparent - county commissioners, airport chiefs, economic development aides - enjoy a set of wheels paid for by the public.

In 51黑料 County, department heads - already at the top of the pay scale - get a county vehicle as part of their compensation.

In Kirkwood, the parks director drives a hybrid sedan. In Belleville, the mayor drives a new Crown Victoria. Many officials can use their vehicles for personal business, as well as commuting. Typically, taxpayers cover insurance, maintenance and fuel.

Policies dictating who gets a vehicle can be murky - often the choice is driven more by tradition than necessity.

Critics question whether purchasing and maintaining vehicles is the best use of taxpayer money.

In 51黑料, where City Hall is grappling with a $45 million budget deficit, at least some of the dozens of take-home cars may be on their final miles.

"In a $580 million budget, it is a very small amount of money, " said Jeff Rainford, the mayor's chief of staff, said. "But when it comes to taxpayers, it's the kind of thing that ticks them off."

FRINGE BENEFIT

In 51黑料 County, need is less a prerequisite for a car than job title. Department heads are entitled to a county-owned take-home car that they can use for unlimited personal business.

County Counselor Pat Redington is one of several county officials with a 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid. Redington says she uses the car - which the county bought for $25,166 - "occasionally for business."

"It's treated primarily as a fringe benefit, " said Redington, who is paid a $148,000 salary, before benefits, as the county's top lawyer. "I do believe that paying county employees is a good use of county resources."

The county's director of revenue, Eugene K. Leung, also drives a county-owned Ford Fusion hybrid, which he described as a "major inducement" to leave his previous employer, the Metro transit agency.

Others in county government with take-home cars include chief operating officer Garry Earls (2005 Ford Explorer), Parks Director Lindsey Swanick (2007 Jeep Liberty) and Denny Coleman, head of the county Economic Council (2008 Chevy Impala).

51黑料 County Executive Charlie A. Dooley and a top aide, Mike Jones, both drive taxpayer-funded Chevy Impalas.

County officials with take-home cars are also given a gas card for fuel. In total, the county has 34 take-home cars, including several assigned to health employees on a state contract to inspect dairy facilities.

But county officials appear to be having second thoughts about the policy.

When asked last month about the vehicle policy, Dooley spokesman Mac Scott said: "The county executive agrees with our policy of giving department directors the option of having a county car, " which was in effect before Dooley took office.

Two weeks later, Scott offered an amended response: "Given the continued economic stresses that we and all county citizens are living under, careful consideration will certainly be given to the usage of the cars when we create the budget for 2011. At that point it is possible that we may decide to phase out the use of the remaining cars."

ON-CALL NEED

Elsewhere, use of a take-home car is based on need, even if that need isn't always obvious.

In St. Charles County, the manager of the two-runway county airport commutes to work in a county-owned 2008 Ford Escape.

"The big thing is, I'm on call, " Tracy Smith said. "If something happens at the airport, regardless of when it happens, I end up having to come out here."

Are there many after-hours incidents that require his attention?

"Depends on what you mean by 'a lot, '" Smith said. "It's not a routine" occurrence, he said.

More than 30 of Jefferson County's 53 take-home cars are in the Public Works Department. They include cars for mechanics, engineers and one for a "right of way agent, " who scouts out properties that the county may need.

"I'm not exactly sure what to say, " said Jefferson County Director of Administration Steve Stoll. "It does seem like an awful lot of cars."

Stoll said the county had discussed not replacing some take-home cars after the current models are past their useful lives.

Public officials with take-home cars don't necessarily get a free ride - they have to pay taxes on the benefit to the IRS, adding as much as 50 cents a mile to their taxable income.

Still, even after paying Uncle Sam, take-home cars offer substantial personal saving to public officials.

While some officials can use the car only for commuting and incidental personal use - such as stopping at the store on the way home - others have no restrictions.

Either way, it is usually far cheaper for cities to reimburse officials for mileage than to purchase them a vehicle, said Richard Battersby, fleet director at the University of California-Davis, who has studied the use of take-home cars.

"It's not even close, " Battersby said. "When you assign a take-home vehicle, you incur that expense every single day that person goes to work. When you pay mileage, you only pay it when that person goes out" on government-related business.

There are rare instances where providing take-home cars is economical, Battersby said, such as when an employee spends his or her day on the road and does not have a permanent office.

"Barring a legitimate and documented business need, a government-assigned take-home vehicle is little more than an employment perk provided at taxpayer expense, " he said.

PARING DOWN

51黑料 has about 140 take-home cars, not including the fire, police or sheriff's department. The airport, which is run by the city, has an additional 32 take-home cars.

The Excise Division, which issues liquor licenses, has three take-home cars. Parks Director Gary Bess drives a taxpayer-owned 2005 Chevy Tahoe, originally purchased for $31,542. His department, which includes forestry workers and park rangers, uses an additional 11 take-home cars.

Bess said that he was trimming his department's take-home fleet by two automobiles but that others were necessary for workers who routinely traverse the hills and narrow paths of city parks.

"Just like a computer for a secretary, " Bess said. "It's a tool they need for their job."

The office of the Building Commissioner has 63 take-home cars, more than any other City Hall department. Many of the cars are for building inspectors, a position that has traditionally come with a vehicle to save time - inspectors would report to work straight from home to a job site.

But, within the last several years, building inspectors began starting their day at City Hall, making the reason for their car privileges largely obsolete.

Still, they've kept the vehicles.

"Now that they are stopping at the office in the morning, no one changed the tradition, " said Public Safety Director Charles Bryson, who oversees the Building Commissioner's office. "Tradition is a hard thing to break in city government."

Not for everyone. Bryson recently relinquished the car - a Ford Escape hybrid - that he inherited from his predecessor. The city is also in the process of taking back the sport utility vehicle assigned to the city's director of emergency management, Gary Christmann.

THE REASON?

During emergencies - such as the powerful storms that knocked out power around the region in 2006 - Christmann typically does not drive. Instead, officials come to him at a bunker-like headquarters in the basement of Soldiers Memorial, eliminating the need for a personal vehicle.

"It seemed to me that whenever we have an emergency, we go to his office, " Rainford said.

The city's Estimate Board - which comprises the comptroller, mayor and aldermanic president - passed a vehicle policy last year that is applied haphazardly across City Hall.

For instance, the city's vehicle policy manual allows take-home cars for employees who "regularly respond to requests for emergency services" or "who begin or end the workday at a different work location daily."

Many of the city's independently elected officials, however, write their own automobile rules, allowing office holders who rarely if ever respond to emergencies - the tax collector, business license collector and recorder of deeds - their own vehicles.

Mayor Francis Slay does not have a take-home vehicle; instead, like previous mayors, the police department provides him with a car - a 2008 Chevrolet Impala, which cost the department about $19,000 - and a driver, who is part of the mayor's security detail.

Comptroller Darlene Green and Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed each drives a city-owned 2009 Mercury Grand Marquis purchased for $13,192, an amount that includes a discount for trading in a previous vehicle.

The comptroller has authorized three additional take-home cars for her department, including a 2009 Chevy Impala, purchased for $14,400, for the manager of the municipal garage, which Green controls.

"For employees in our office who are on call to respond to city issues outside of normal business hours, use of a city vehicle is appropriate, " the comptroller's spokesman, John Farrell, said in a statement.

Farrell did not respond to repeated questions seeking a specific instance where a garage employee was needed outside of normal working hours.

AMERICAN CARS

Officials in smaller municipalities may have less ground to cover, but no shortage of take-home cars available.

In Kirkwood, the city's Park Board - an independent panel that runs the city's parks - bought Parks Director Murray Pounds a 2009 Chevy Malibu hybrid for $23,500.

"You can make an argument that we shouldn't be doing this, " said Park Board President Alan Hopefl.

Belleville Mayor Mark Eckert is one of the few, if not the only, area mayors with a city car - a new Crown Victoria, outfitted with radio communications equipment, which the city purchased last year for $24,000.

Belleville, unlike cities of similar size, does not have a city manager or administrator. "I'm the city manager, I'm the mayor, all in one, " Eckert said. "I do have a vehicle, and I'm not apologizing for that. It is definitely necessary."

Eckert's predecessor, however, did not have a car.

Other cities in the area have found ways around providing take-home cars to employees. In St. Charles, city employees in the street and water divisions take home a vehicle on a rotating basis only when they are "on call" for emergencies. Creve Coeur offers three of its top employees a monthly car allowance between $300 and $550, which the city says is less expensive than buying vehicles.

"You consider all the costs of maintaining that car, buying that car and filling that car up with gas, " said Jaysen Christensen, the assistant to the city administrator. "The car allowance is a lot cheaper."

Several local officials who have take-home cars say they, too, are cost-conscious.

St. Clair County Chairman Mark Kern drives a 2001 Crown Victoria with 125,000 miles. Webster Groves City Manager Steve Wylie was driving a nine-year-old Ford Taurus before the city bought him a 2009 Chevy Impala.

Despite the differences, most, if not all, local officials' cars share one distinction - none is from a foreign manufacturer.

"I think its a good idea, " Wylie said, "for us to be driving American cars."