Berkeley may put brakes on policy

Berkeley councilman says perk is costly to county

MONCKS CORNER — One Lowcountry county allows a lot more of its employees to drive government-owned cars home after they're finished a day's work.

It's a benefit to several employees of Berkeley County, which allows nearly 95 take-home cars to non-law enforcement employees — more than Dorchester and Charleston counties and the city of Charleston combined.

The county has fewer restrictions than its neighboring counties. Unlike other jurisdictions, Berkeley employees don't have to pay a fee to use the cars or reimburse the county if they live a long distance from where they work.

But some soon might loose their cars. Berkeley County may strip dozens of employees of their take-home cars in an effort to save money.

Councilman Dennis Fish said the county spends more than $100,000 a month on gas, and with the economic downturn, it's time to tighten the belt.

He said he expects council to vote at its next meeting to limit take-home cars to elected officials such as the coroner and supervisor and on-call personnel only. Sheriff's office personnel would not be affected.

"We will change the policy Monday," Fish said.

Berkeley isn't the first to target non-law enforcement take-home cars as a cost-saving measure.

Charleston County recently pared the number of its take-home cars from 30 to eight to decrease fuel costs and reduce the size of the county's fleet. The city of Charleston is considering a plan to charge employees who take city cars home a monthly fee based on their city salary.

City employees earning less than $40,000 would pay $20. Those earning more than $40,000 but less than $60,000 would pay $40, and those earning more than $60,000 would pay $80.

The city estimates those charges would add up to between $40,000 and $50,000 in savings next year.

Dorchester County employees pay a standard $30 per month.

Berkeley County Water and Sanitation Director Colin Martin said he'd like to see council look at similar ways to reduce the take-home-car budget without doing away with take-home cars altogether.

Martin's department has nearly half of Berkeley County's take-home cars, not including seven first-responder vehicles that are used by on-call personnel.

He said the department heads and others who take cars home sometimes are called out after hours and often attend meetings in their vehicles. He also acknowledged it's a perk. Losing it would equal a loss of compensation for his employees.

"Perk is a dirty word when it comes to government, but to keep bright people in public positions, it has to be part of the package," he said.

The take-home policy in Berkeley County has been around for years, but it's been scrutinized more in light of volatile gas prices.

Berkeley County Supervisor Dan Davis said staff has found obvious inequities in the take-home-car system, but they haven't had a chance to overhaul it since he's been in office. He said they just recently discovered that some employees were granted cars in their employment agreements while others were not.

He said he's open to making a change, but nothing is going to be perfect.

"If council has a policy it wants to implement, that's fine," he said.

The current policy states that employees who are authorized to drive vehicles home must not use it for personal purposes except for commuting to work "or running a simple errand on the way to and from work."

Berkeley County officials said they have received numerous complaints from the public about employees driving around the county with their families or eating inside their parked cars with the engine and air conditioning running.

Councilmen have noted that many employees with take-home cars don't live in the county. Some drive back and forth to Moncks Corner every day from as far as West Ashley and St. George.

The city of Charleston uses MapQuest to learn the home-to-office distance of its employees. Anyone who has more than 24 miles to drive round trip is required to pay the city back at 58.5 cents per mile, which is the Internal Revenue Service mileage rate for business travel.

North Charleston employees have to pay 25 cents for every mile they travel after 20 miles.

Davis said Berkeley County has been making an effort to swap more fuel-efficient cars into the county's fleet. He recently traded in his Ford Crown Victoria for a Toyota Prius.

Reach Andy Paras at 745-5891 or aparas@postandcourier.com.Bo Petersen, Dave Munday and David Slade contributed to this report.

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