City officials use government cars mainly for personal use
Only one of five Colorado Springs City Council appointees with take-home vehicles uses a government-owned car primarily for city business.
The other four drive their city-owned vehicles mostly for personal business, according to documents obtained by The Gazette.
Appointees are allowed to drive their city-owned vehicles for both business and personal purposes.
“These city vehicles are being used by the five City Council appointees in accordance with their individual contracts with the City Council,” city spokesman Tim Burke said Wednesday.
City Auditor Jeff Litchfield uses his car for personal business more than any of the five.
Litchfield, who drives a city-owned 2001 Chevrolet Blazer, used the vehicle 97 percent of the time on personal business in the first quarter. He used it 82 percent of the time on personal business in the second quarter and nearly 93 percent in the third quarter.
City Manager Penelope Culbreth-Graft, who drives a 2005 Ford Escape, used it 49 percent of the time on personal business in the first quarter. Her personal usage jumped to nearly 71 percent in the second quarter and was at 63 percent in the third quarter.
City Clerk Kathryn Young also drives a city-owed 2005 Ford Escape. In the first quarter, she used it nearly 66 percent of the time on personal business, 55 percent in the second quarter and 38 percent in the third quarter.
City Attorney Patricia Kelly drove a city-owned 1999 Chevrolet Blazer in the first quarter, which she used nearly 69 percent of the time on personal business. Kelly upgraded to a 2009 Ford Escape by the second quarter of the year and drove it nearly 75 percent of the time on personal business. In the third quarter, she used it for personal business nearly 63 percent of the time.
Police Chief Richard Myers drives his government-owned 2006 Ford Escape primarily for city business.
Myers drove it less than 1 percent for personal business in the first quarter, just over 1 percent in the second quarter and nearly 1.5 percent in the third quarter.
All five appointees are following Internal Revenue Service regulations on take-home cars. They file quarterly reports with the city finance office detailing use of the vehicle.
“The city finance department includes the value of the personal use (of take-home government vehicles) on the appropriate pay stubs, so that it is reported to the IRS as an element of compensation,” Burke said.
Read more at the City Desk blog.
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