The Lowndes County Board of Supervisors is examining its policy regarding employees who take county-owned vehicles home at night.
Discussion on the matter started after County Administrator Ralph Billingsley suggested administrators be limited in using county vehicles.
“I recommend that any administrative personnel with county vehicles leave their vehicles at the office and commute back and forth in their personal vehicles and use county vehicles for business, during the day or night,” Billingsley said. “This is not for road department employees that respond to emergencies. We need to do some investigating to determine if a vehicle needs to go home at night.”
Billingsley said E911 Director Sheri Fancher, Lowndes Emergency Management Agency Director Cindy Lawrence, Fire Coordinator Sammy Fondren, Juvenile Detention Center Administrator Anthony Nelson and Youth Court Bailiff Joe Richardson are currently taking county vehicles home at night.
Board President and District 1 Supervisor Harry Sanders made a motion to prohibit non-road department employees from taking county vehicles home at night. District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks said, even with only road department employees using county vehicles, the situation was complicated.
“I’ve done some extensive research on this,” Brooks said. “I’m 100 percent for road workers taking vehicles home, because of the nature of their work. However, the (Internal Revenue Service) does not allow exemptions for road department vehicles. I suggest we have some substations, where road department workers can drop off their personal vehicles and pick up their work trucks. The Board (of Supervisors) does not have the authority to give tax exemptions. We need to accommodate these guys the best we can. We need to have a clear policy on this. This is not about gas prices, this is about the IRS. We need to have a comprehensive policy and do it right.”
Sanders said it is up to the employees to take care of themselves, when it comes to the IRS.
“We have no obligation to give out W-2 forms for employees using county vehicles for personal reasons,” Sanders said. “This is not our responsibility. If an employee has a county vehicle and he gets up on a Sunday and takes that vehicle to get some coffee and a biscuit, that employee needs to report this usage to the IRS.”
While Brooks argued he was only trying to protect the workers, Board Attorney Tim Hudson said a new policy is not needed.
“There is a statute that states it is against the law to use county property,” Hudson said. “We can’t authorize anything.”
Sanders amended his motion, adding employees using county vehicles for personal reasons must report the usage to the IRS. District 4 Supervisor Jeff Smith said the board did not have enough information to vote on the subject, until a later meeting.
“We are looking for a way to cover the road department,” Smith said. “We can cover them better if we have a policy.”
Sanders’ motion passed 4-1, with Smith voting against it. Brooks’ motion for a comprehensive plan for vehicle usage passed unanimously.
“Well, I think this motion is little redundant,” Sanders said. “We’ve been doing this for 25 years.”
Jeff Clark was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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