Council presses city manager for clearer accounting of take‑home vehicle costs

Councilors questioned the city manager about a recent report on city-issued ‘‘take-home’’ or portal vehicles that listed only fuel charges, asking for a clearer total annual cost that includes maintenance and insurance.

"That's not all there is," said Councilor Recupero, who raised the issue, pointing to entries that showed $3,000–$4,000 in gas for individual cards and asking, "What is the total amount? Not just gas." He pressed whether the city uses GPS on vehicles and whether maintenance costs can be attributed to particular cars.

The city manager said GPS tracking "hasn't rolled out" to all city vehicles and that maintenance and insurance costs are handled centrally through the Department of Public Works budget. "We don't really track expenses by vehicle... we have centralized maintenance that runs out of the DPW budget," the manager said, noting the city is self‑insured and purchases a blanket policy that makes per‑vehicle insurance allocation difficult to isolate.

The manager told the council staff would attempt to prepare an estimate using assumptions — including hypothetical changes to the fleet — and return with more precise figures. He also explained that some positions (for example, certain emergency responders, inspectors and the director of emergency management) are contractually required to have take‑home vehicles to respond around the clock.

Why this matters: the council sought transparency so residents can understand true vehicle costs and to evaluate whether policy or tracking changes could reduce taxpayer expense. The manager agreed to follow up with a cost estimate and the council signaled a desire for improved reporting on fleet expenses.