July 09, 2008
Brookhaven to Cut Back its 780-Vehicle Town Fleet
BROOKHAVEN, NY - Brookhaven’s 780-vehicle fleet will be reduced and better managed, an effort that will save taxpayers more than $1 million in fuel and maintenance costs, town officials said recently after approving a new vehicle policy, according to www.newsday.com.
The reform came as the town board tabled a proposal to install GPS units in its vehicles. That plan would save taxpayers more than $600,000 a year.
The unanimous action on the vehicle policy came two months after the town voted to revoke take-home cars from an expected 45 appointed town employees.
Islip Town also promised in April to reduce its fleet by 68 cars.
Brookhaven’s new rules are designed to scale down the town’s vehicle fleet by auctioning off some vehicles, reassigning others into a pool system, keeping better mileage logs, and eliminating commuter cars. The policy should be fully implemented by the end of the year. The plan could trim the town’s fleet by up to 33 percent by the end of the year and save $1 million over the next 18 to 24 months.
The town board postponed voting on the GPS policy until August to give board members more time to determine whether the policy would produce savings commensurate with installation cost of up to $225,420.