City of Belen employees will no longer be allowed to take home city vehicles, after the city’s acting manager yesterday sent a policy directive to all employees banning the practice.

“City vehicles will be picked up when the employee comes in to work and returned at the end of the work shift or when emergency is complete,” the directive from Acting City Manager Mary Lucy Baca reads. “Anyone who takes a vehicle home will be unauthorized and disciplinary action will be taken up to and including termination.”

The new policy exempts public safety vehicles, including police cars.

City officials continue to look into whether or not to limit the off-duty use of public safety vehicles because some of those vehicles end up at employees’ homes in Albuquerque, Socorro and Mountainair.

The policy continues to restrict the use of vehicles during lunch hours, requiring the city employees to pay $3 per day if they will use a city vehicle to pick up lunch or dine at a restaurant. The $3 charge had been instituted by the Torres administration.

City officials made the decision because of the budget shortfall.

“Employees must help us trim wherever possible,” Baca writes in the directive.

This page was published on March 27, 2010 at 8:03pm and is filed under Budget, Reform.