July 02, 2008

Rockland Examines Use of Vehicles and Fuel Fraud

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WEST HARRISON, N.Y. – There are pumps in Rockland where gas costs as little as $3.53 a gallon. But only county employees can fill up there. Officials have put safeguards in place to make sure the system isn’t abused at a time when filling up a sedan at a retail gas pump can cost more than $50, according to http://lohud.com.

The Rockland County Legislature is now examining the county’s use of vehicles and fuel at the request of Legislator Alden Wolfe, D-Suffern.

Rockland has a multi-layered system to prevent abuse at its five pumps, and only certain employees are given gas privileges, based on need.

Each vehicle is assigned a key outfitted with a computer chip that contains the last five digits of the vehicle identification number and a history that includes the department to which the vehicle is assigned. Employees must provide the last four digits of their Social Security numbers along with their names and departments to the service center. And prior to the gas flowing, those employees must then enter into a keypad the vehicle’s odometer reading, the pump number and, again, the last four digits of their Social Security numbers. Monthly reports are then compiled and analyzed.

Employees are not allowed to fill personal vehicles at the county pumps, even if the car is being used for county business.

The county fleet includes 173 cars, 68 SUVs, and 165 trucks. Eleven vehicles are hybrids. The county has approved plans to continue replacing gas-powered vehicles with hybrids over the next several years.

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