EAST CHICAGO, Ind. (AP) _ Some of Indiana's counties and cities are putting the brakes on the widespread practice of municipal workers using government-owned vehicles for their personal needs.
East Chicago financial adviser James Bennett says it once seemed like most of the cars on the northwestern Indiana city's streets were government-owned vehicles.
Mayor Anthony Copeland tells The Times of Munster that when he became mayor in 2010 basically every city employee had a take-home car.
He scaled back that policy and now the only city employees who can use take-home cars are the police chief, fire chief, city clerk, city judge and the mayor's office.
Lake County Commissioner Gerry Scheub says county officials created “substantial savings'' in liability, gas and maintenance costs by reducing the county's number of take-home vehicles.
