Thursday, January 18, 2007 Older Editions

Selectmen compare Andover car use

By Brian Messenger

In an effort to save money, selectmen are still collecting and analyzing data to compare how Andover and other communities' employees use town vehicles and fuel. Selectmen also said they are waiting to see whether the town retirement board will rule that the value of take-home vehicles should be added to employees' pensions when they retire.

Information from 26 different communities in Massachusetts has been collected by selectmen Mary Lyman and Alex Vispoli to better evaluate Andover's current policy, which the board wishes to expand to limit fuel consumption and other costs associated with town-issued vehicles. Selectmen are seeking more information from within the town as they continue their analysis.

According to the data, Andover averages about one town-issued take-home vehicle for every 2,000 residents, a number that places them in the middle of the pack of comparable municipalities.

In all, 39 town employees receive regular compensation for vehicle use, including 17 positions that have a take-home car, seven people who receive travel stipends and 15 who receive travel stipends that include compensation for mileage.

Lyman said the next step for the board will be contacting the employees who drive town vehicles and inquiring about their usage.

"It might be in writing or it might be in person," said Lyman. "I'll be contacting the department heads and other employees who have the town vehicles."

Lyman said town employees will get a fair chance to explain their job descriptions and reliance on the vehicles for those jobs. She said some employees contacted her when they heard she was looking into the benefit. She anticipates sending out a survey to all who drive a town-issued vehicle.

"I haven't gotten to the 39 total and compared it to other communities," said Lyman. "To try and see if we could reduce energy somewhere in there would be good."

"There are a lot of ways we can work together to cut costs," said Plant and Facilities Director Joe Piantedosi.

Piantedosi and four of his division heads are given 24-hour usage of their town vehicles.

"There seems to be a perception," said Piantedosi, "that these vehicles are a perk."

"The overwhelming majority of the miles put on these vehicles are for town use," he said. "My way of looking at it with my superintendents is I want to encourage them to be out on the job sites frequently and to be out on the school sites frequently, so that they do their job properly."

Piantedosi said he discovered 47 instances where Parks and Grounds Superintendent Randy Pickersgill responded to after-hours emergencies or attended after-hours meetings.

"We've taken the lead role with conserving energy over the past 10 years and reducing the fleet," said Piantedosi. "My department has always been proactive."

Lyman said selectmen hope to better define which town positions will come with vehicles or vehicle stipends.

"What I'm looking to do is setup a justification process," said Lyman. "That there's a uniform series of questions that are answered."

In a letter to the board, Lyman and Vispoli also noted how they are waiting on a decision from the retirement board to decide whether take-home vehicles will be considered eligible for compensation in employees' pensions.

"It seems as though we are constantly revisiting it," said retirement board member Elena Kothman, who also works in the town's retirement office.

Kothman said the board will not make a decision on the pension benefit until a long-standing issue is resolved in court.

Before former Andover fire chief Harold Wright retired in July of 2000, he presented his case to the retirement board that the value of having a town vehicle should be added to his pension. The state's Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission advised Andover that the take-home vehicle should be deemed regular compensation, said Kothman. Wright had the benefit included in his pension until Nov. 2003, when PERAC reversed its decision after what Kothman describes as a "flooding of other police chiefs and fire chiefs applying for this same (inclusion)."

"We're waiting for a final decision from the court," said Kothman. "I think it could take years to resolve it ... We're talking [Wright retired in] 2000, and here it is, 2007, and it still isn't solved."

"I could understand the retirement board's decision to wait and see," said Lyman. "It will certainly impact the future as we look at the value of this benefit."