Indiana counties, cities scale back take-home cars

EAST CHICAGO, Ind. - Some northwestern Indiana local governments are putting the brakes on the widespread practice of their workers using government-owned vehicles for their personal needs.

East Chicago financial adviser James Bennett says it once seemed like most of the cars on the city's streets were government-owned vehicles.

Mayor Anthony Copeland tells The Times of Munster that when he became East Chicago's leader in 2010 basically every city employee had a take-home car.

He scaled back that policy and now the only city employees who can use take-home cars are the police chief, fire chief, city clerk, city judge and the mayor's office.

Lake County Commissioner Gerry Scheub says county officials created substantial savings in liability, gas and maintenance costs by reducing the county's number of take-home vehicles.