HAHNVILLE – St. Charles Parish President V.J. St. Pierre Jr. has implemented a new policy dictating employee use of parish-owned and personal vehicles while conducting parish business.

Click here to view the St. Charles Parish vehicle policy

The policy went into effect May 1 and has been phased-in over the last two months, Chief Operating Officer Rusty Walker said.

While the rules address all on-the-job transportation, they also spell out criteria for the use of take-home vehicles in all government departments. Previously, individual departments determined which workers were assigned a parish-owned vehicle to take to and from work.

According to the policy, vehicles are assigned on the basis of functional requirements of the employee’s position. Take-home vehicles are assigned to employees whose responsibilities require routine and regular conduct of parish business before or after normal working hours, emergency use on a routine or regular basis or if it is to the convenience of the parish to assign a vehicle.

Employees assigned take-home vehicles are taxed each pay check for their use.

All other employees have access to parish vehicle pools or can be reimbursed for mileage in their personal vehicles. The current reimbursement rate is 50 cents per mile.

The new criteria have eliminated approximately 15 take-home vehicles in the Department of Planning and Zoning, four in Workforce Investment and two in the Department of Parks and Recreation. The parish previously authorized 80 take-home vehicles.

Three of the six members of St. Pierre’s executive staff have access to parish vehicles, including St. Pierre.

“Our goal was to streamline the decision-making process across the board,” he said. “Now that we have this set of rules, it’s going to be much easier to eliminate abuse and determine the best use for the vehicles we already maintain.”

The policy also forbids any use of a parish-owned vehicle for personal business but makes exception for errands done while traveling to and from work, provided the errands are along the normal route.

Department heads enforce the policy, and any employee in violation may be prohibited from using Parish-owned vehicles, terminated or otherwise reprimanded.

The parish paid approximately $119,000 for fuel and oil during May 2008, according to acting Finance Director J. Charles Oubre III. St. Pierre said the parish would benefit from decreased maintenance and fuel expenses for vehicles pulled out of the take-home rotation.

The mission of St. Charles Parish government is to provide high quality, efficient services to sustain and enhance the quality of life for all residents of St. Charles Parish.