COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – Colorado Springs Utilities ignored its own policies for vehicles driven to and from work by employees, according to a city audit, The Gazette said. The auditors found an undocumented and inconsistent take-home vehicle system that lacked a centralized and comprehensive list of the City-owned agency’s vehicles.
Top utilities officials didn’t review and evaluate who has vehicles, how much they drive them, and other usage issues.
Commuter miles weren’t always reported to the IRS for tax purposes. The federal government considers commuter miles in company vehicles a taxable benefit. Also, personal miles were rarely documented as policies require.
At least a dozen workers used take-home vehicles in violation of a policy that dictates they live within the utilities service area. The policy states that workers who accept positions that require them to take home Utilities vehicles will be given a five-month grace period to move into the service territory.
The audit didn’t report how many vehicles utilities has or how many are included in the take-home program, because auditors weren’t given reliable figures, City Auditor Jeff Litchfield said.
Utilities spokesman Dave Grossman said in a written statement that the agency’s 1,570-vehicle fleet includes 107 take-home vehicles. He said utilities welcomes audits, which lead to better practices. But he stressed that utilities did not ignore its policies.
The audit is the second scathing review within a week for utilities, the city’s largest enterprise with an annual budget of nearly $1 billion.
The audit spanned Oct. 1, 2005, to Sept. 30, 2006. The audit also found:
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