Howard will slash the number of take-home, county-owned vehicles issued to county employees by nearly 60 percent by September because of excessive, non-job-related traveling discovered in staff reports.

The 207 take-home vehicles in service will be reduced by 119, saving the county as much as $700,000 a year, according to county officials.

“We felt that there were way too many people who had them who didn’t need them,” County Executive Ken Ulman said.

The decision, announced Tuesday, was an effort to be more efficient in using resources without compromising county services, he said.

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In the spring, Ulman asked his staff to conduct an internal review of take-home vehicles.

In April, The Examiner obtained records showing how some employees traveled thousands of miles, and a few at nearly 30,000 miles a year, using the county’s vehicles.

All department heads will keep their take-home vehicles because of frequent county meetings and other work obligations, but not the department deputy directors who needed them less, county officials said.

“Those who get a car need it to do their job more effectively,” Ulman said.

However, those set to lose their cars include some fire and rescue responders, public works employees and sheriff’s deputies, county spokesman Kevin Enright said.

Ulman and Chief Administrative Officer Lonnie Robbins met with the heads of these offices and departments to ensure needs would still be met.

Vehicles still will be available for emergencies, Ulman said.

Police Chief William McMahon is expected to make an announcement soon about the take-home cars issued to police department employees, Enright said.

“I think the County Council supports the decision [Ulman] made,” said Councilwoman Courtney Watson, D-District 1.

“As a government, we have to find ways to cut expenses, not just in this year, but in every year.”

Officials spent time reviewing commuting miles versus job-related miles and found that some cars were being used for long-distance commutes from as far as Pennsylvania.

The policy change was geared more toward those employees who had been primarily using their vehicles in their daily work commutes, including recreation and parks department workers, who usually commute to and from work without traveling during the day, Ulman said. Watson said the County Council also was assured fire and police duties would not be affected.

“It is important to do all we can to effectively use taxpayer dollars in these challenging times,” said Councilman Calvin Ball, D-District 2.

jkowalkowski@baltimoreexaminer.com