FT. WAYNE, IN — According to a recent survey, as many as 20 of the 245 take-home vehicles owned by Allen County government are driven less than 6,000 miles per year — proof there's a need to trim the fleet, officials told the Ft. Wayne News-Sentinel on August 16. Under a policy proposed by commissioners and council, the county would impose new guidelines on the purchase and use of take-home vehicles. If passed, the policy change could save the cash-starved county government thousands of dollars every year — although nobody can say how much. The policy's main goal is to make sure people who get take-home vehicles actually need them. "Employees assigned take-home vehicles must be called out on work-related duties on a regular and frequent basis," the policy said. "Vehicles not meeting these criteria may be sold or used as 'pool' cars." Each take-home vehicle must be driven at least 6,000 miles per year, the policy said. While several county officials acknowledged such a requirement could induce employees to drive more in order to keep their car, "we hope that won't happen," said County Council President Darren Vogt. Non-police county vehicles aren't supposed to be used for personal business. Vogt said the county will pay attention to "on-call" employees with take-home vehicles. Employees who are seldom called might not need their own vehicle. As of now, vehicles used for public-safety responsibilities and those considered part of an employee benefits package are exempt, although Commissioner Ed Rousseau said use of all the county's 400 vehicles will be scrutinized. "I'm going to look at everything. We want to save money." Rousseau hopes the county can reduce its fleet by at least 15 vehicles. The proposal is similar to one already in effect with the Fort Wayne government, he said. If the policy is passed and county-owned pool cars are not available, employees would be reimbursed for using their own cars on official business. The commissioners in June agreed to increase the county's per-mile payment from 30 cents to 36 cents. Rousseau and Vogt said the policy will be reviewed and could be changed before commissioners vote on it, possibly within a month or two. One issue to be addressed might be this: How does the county decide which vehicles are used for public safety? Until last year, the county didn't even know who was driving its vehicles or where they were going, trusting officials to supervise their employees. In part because of budget concerns, the county began to require that employees record vehicle use.