By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — With gasoline prices on the rise and a budget crunch to deal with, Mayor James Doyle’s administration has taken away three city-owned vehicles from municipal employees and is looking at halting the use of five more.

Doyle said three city vehicles were recently removed from employees of the Fire Department, which had a total of eight vehicles. He said that two more are also being evaluated, based on the need of the employees involved.
Doyle said there are 22 vehicles in the municipal fleet. That number does not include a car that is issued to him and another vehicle for Doyle’s lieutenant, Director of Administration Harvey Goulet, per city ordinance.
Of the 22 vehicles, eight are used by members of the Fire Department, seven by members of the Police Department, three by employees of the administration and four by employees of the Public Works Department, Doyle said.
The mayor said his administration is also investigating the necessity of providing one Police Department and two DPW vehicles. That decision is forthcoming.
Doyle said that of the four vehicles in Public Works, two will definitely remain: those used by the DPW director and his assistant, both of whom have a need to be on the road.
He also said there are no plans to take away any of the three vehicles that operate out of City Hall, currently used by the tax assessor, zoning officer and city engineer. “But there is to be no personal use of these, of course,” Doyle added.
Six more vehicles, most of which are old and seldom used, have been taken out of service. This sextet will either be sold or used for parts, Doyle said.
The mayor didn’t have a firm estimate on how much money will be saved by cutting down on the active fleet. Besides the obvious savings on gasoline, there will be less wear and tear on the vehicles, and less need for maintenance and repairs.
Doyle said he began scrutinizing vehicle use about eight weeks ago, as part of his budget process. He said that when he first became mayor a decade ago, he had reduced the fleet. However, in the ensuing years, he said it has creeped up again by one or two vehicles a year.
Doyle said none of the vehicles involved are part of any employee contracts. Rather, it has been more of a matter of someone speaking to their supervisor and convincing them that they have a use for a car on their job, he said. “However, difficult times require difficult measures,” Doyle stated. “And especially with the current gasoline supply, it was time to take a second look.”
In addition to the obvious cost-cutting, some recent abuses that have come to light in other communities has prompted the City Council to form a new ad hoc committee that will be taking a hard look at city vehicle use and the ordinances that govern it.
Earlier this month, Councilor Henry Kinch Jr. requested that the committee be formed and volunteered to head it up. The council agreed.
Kinch will be joined by Councilor-At- Large Donald Grebien and Councilor John J. Barry, who also chairs the Finance Committee. The panel will hold its first meeting on June 11, said Kinch.
Kinch said he had initially looked into this issue last December after reading a newspaper article about a Cumberland town employee who drove his town vehicle to Boston.  He said he then began to review the ordinances that govern the use of city-owned vehicles by municipal employees. He said that some of these ordinances, which come under Chapter 63 in the city’s Code of Ordinances, have not been updated since 1967.
“I believe more definition and structure is needed,” said Kinch. “The ultimate goal, of course, is to save the taxpayers money, but our government must also strive for efficiency, and I think the formation of the committee will be useful toward that end.”
Kinch noted the recent city vehicle controversies in Cumberland and Providence as examples of how vehicle use can get out of hand if not tightly administered. “Taking into consideration the cost of fuel and maintenance, I think it is imperative that we be proactive in order to make sure that the events that occurred in our neighboring cities don’t happen in Pawtucket,” he said. “At the same time, we can make sure that taxpayers are getting a bang for their buck.”
Kinch also said he would like to see the committee explore issues such as travel logs and mileage repayment to the city by employees who take their cars home.
Ordinance 63-30 (Automobiles for Mayor and Administrative Assistant) provides that automobiles be given automatically to the mayor and the mayor’s administrative assistant.
The ordinance also states that “Internal Revenue Service guidelines shall be implemented to determine how much automobile usage is for personal versus city use.” It further states that “The personal usage is considered income and should be taxed accordingly.”
Ordinance 63-31 (Taking home other automobiles) allows for vehicles to be taken home only if the individual is authorized to be on “emergency call status,” and that this status is related “only to matters of public safety.” This provision takes into account the police chief, fire chief and other personnel who fit the criteria.
A related ordinance, 63-32 (Positions requiring extensive travel), states that positions requiring extensive travel may be authorized by supervisors to use department vehicles. It further states that “these vehicles may be taken home; however, they shall not be used for personal use. Any person violating this provision shall be reported to the City Council.”
Ordinance 62-33 (Annual report of vehicle assignments and usages) states that an annual report on vehicle assignments and usages for the period ending June 30 must be provided to the City Council along with justification for the assignment of vehicles in accordance with guidelines and procedures. Such a report is required to be submitted to the City Council by Aug. 1 of each year.
Under ordinance 63-34 (Disciplinary action for violations), it is stated that violators shall be subject to “appropriate disciplinary action ...”
In a May 7 letter to Council President Mary Bray, Kinch said he has concerns about the language in Chapter 63, including the definition of “extensive travel.”  He also said he would like clarification of “emergency call status.”
Kinch further alleges that there has been a failure to file a mandated annual report to the City Council that accounts for such vehicles and provides justification for their assignment.