Nov 27, 2008 10:51 PM Posted by Jon_Keller  Car 54, where are you?
WBZ News has learned that the state has revoked the privilege for 107
of the 347 so-called year-round "domicile vehicles." Fifty-eight of those
were assigned to the Highway Department. Others were being used by
employees at executive-branch agencies dealing with public safety,
corrections, park management, and conservation. An
undisclosed number of the remaining domicile vehicles will now be
limited to seasonal use; in one example, Highway Department employees who
supervise snowplowing operations and formerly had year-round access to
the cars will now be limited to wintertime use only.
A top administration official who confirmed the details of the car crackdown said the
governor's Office of Administration and Finance is also "tightening up"
its monitoring of required monthly mileage reports on the cars. Users
are also expected to submit written accounts of their reasons for
travel and explain any after-hours usage. Failure to file such reports
will now result in loss of the privilege.
"I don't think abuse was pervasive at all," said the official. "But given what's going on in the economy, we felt
you really had to make a case to justify this practice."
The move comes at a sensitive time for the administration, under
intense financial pressures and political fire for proposed toll hikes
on the Massachusetts Turnpike. It is the latest in a series of Patrick
administration efforts to model reformist behavior, including a
late-summer deployment of flaggers at some state road-work projects in place of
costly police details, and belt-tightening at the Turnpike Authority,
including efforts to lay off managers and toll collectors.
And the review of state vehicle use is not over, the official said. "There could be more to come." | |
