RICHARDSON, TEXAS - The City of Richardson is eliminating car allowances for many city employees, instead increasing their salaries by an equal amount, according to The Dallas Morning News.

City Manager Bill Keffler's decision reverses a decades-old policy that treated car allowances as extra compensation. Allowances will now be limited to those who require automobile use for their jobs.

Allowances will still go to 81 employees, largely field workers. Those seeing the compensation shift to salary largely hold administrative jobs, such as department directors and assistant directors.

The City has spent about $840,000 a year on car allowances. About $339,000 will be shifted to salaries for 57 employees who will no longer receive the allowance.

Allowance amounts currently range from about $3,000 a year to nearly $9,000.

The change in policy will not save the City money, but Keffler said he wanted to make compensation more transparent, according to newspaper.