CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The Manchin administration on Monday outlined steps it is taking to fix rampant misuse of state vehicles for commuting and other personal uses, in response to a legislative audit critical of the problem.
Among other moves, employees assigned state vehicles will have to keep a logbook of mileage that "clearly indicates personal usage versus business usage."
Effective immediately, all vehicles maintained by the Department of Administration will be required to have a maintenance and mileage log on board, the report states.
The report indicates that the Manchin administration is also strongly encouraging state agencies that are exempt from Department of Administration fleet management rules to maintain mileage logs.
Those agencies -- including Highways, State Police, Natural Resources, Forestry and higher education institutions -- account for a majority of all state vehicles.
The administration is also taking steps to remind employees who commute in state vehicles to "seek appropriate tax reporting information and assistance to ensure proper documentation and withholding per IRS guidelines."
The report of the legislative Post-Audit Division found numerous instances of state employees underreporting the commuting value of their vehicles for tax purposes, including 90 employees -- Treasurer John Perdue and Agriculture Commissioner Gus Douglass among them -- who did not report any commuting value for their vehicles.
According to the administration's report, the number of state vehicles assigned for commuting has decreased 10 percent since 2005, and that more than 70 percent of vehicles used for commuting are assigned to employees who are on call 24 hours a day for law enforcement or field duty purposes.
The report also disputes a claim in the legislative audit that state agencies were unable to verify how many vehicles they have in their fleets.
It said a survey of Cabinet secretaries and agency heads came up with a total count of 4,083 passenger vehicles in the state fleet.
The report notes that passenger cars account for just 44 percent of the state's fleet, with highway maintenance trucks, emergency response vehicles, passenger transports and other specialized vehicles accounting for the majority of the fleet.
Reach Phil Kabler at ph...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1220.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The Manchin administration on Monday outlined steps it is taking to fix rampant misuse of state vehicles for commuting and other personal uses, in response to a legislative audit critical of the problem.
Among other moves, employees assigned state vehicles will have to keep a logbook of mileage that "clearly indicates personal usage versus business usage."
Effective immediately, all vehicles maintained by the Department of Administration will be required to have a maintenance and mileage log on board, the report states.
The report indicates that the Manchin administration is also strongly encouraging state agencies that are exempt from Department of Administration fleet management rules to maintain mileage logs.
Those agencies -- including Highways, State Police, Natural Resources, Forestry and higher education institutions -- account for a majority of all state vehicles.
The administration is also taking steps to remind employees who commute in state vehicles to "seek appropriate tax reporting information and assistance to ensure proper documentation and withholding per IRS guidelines."
The report of the legislative Post-Audit Division found numerous instances of state employees underreporting the commuting value of their vehicles for tax purposes, including 90 employees -- Treasurer John Perdue and Agriculture Commissioner Gus Douglass among them -- who did not report any commuting value for their vehicles.
According to the administration's report, the number of state vehicles assigned for commuting has decreased 10 percent since 2005, and that more than 70 percent of vehicles used for commuting are assigned to employees who are on call 24 hours a day for law enforcement or field duty purposes.
The report also disputes a claim in the legislative audit that state agencies were unable to verify how many vehicles they have in their fleets.
It said a survey of Cabinet secretaries and agency heads came up with a total count of 4,083 passenger vehicles in the state fleet.
The report notes that passenger cars account for just 44 percent of the state's fleet, with highway maintenance trucks, emergency response vehicles, passenger transports and other specialized vehicles accounting for the majority of the fleet.
Reach Phil Kabler at ph...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1220.
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Steps outlined to curb abuse of state vehicles.
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Key word "CURB" . It will be "CURBED" for a few months or year until the heat is off then back to where every state employee has access to a state owned car for personal use !