State vehicles may be more cost effective
Mississippi spends millions of dollars a year on the purchase, upkeep and fuel for its fleet of about 7,500 state government vehicles.
But it also spends millions of dollars a year in reimbursement for employees to travel in their personal vehicles.
Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves notes a one-year moratorium he successfully pushed through the Legislature in 2012, plus a mandate that agencies reduce their fleets by 2 percent over five years saved the state $12 million in just one year. He said the moratorium didn’t include law enforcement and emergency vehicles, “those with lights on top of the vehicle.”
But Gov. Phil Bryant and others say the state in many cases could be saving money by giving an employee a state car instead of reimbursing for mileage.
Clarion Ledger
8/10/13