Fort Worth taxpayers are picking up the tab for hours-long commutes by police and fire
Weak policy and lax enforcement have led to hundreds of city owned vehicles leaving Fort Worth’s city limits on a daily basis.
That was the finding of a city report that looked at Fort Worth’s take-home vehicle policy.
While the majority of these vehicles are used by the Fort Worth police department to allow officers to quickly respond to emergencies, some are communing from as far away as Pilot Point and Possum Kingdom Lake.
Of Fort Worth’s 659 take-home vehicles, roughly 58% leave the city limits on a nightly basis, according to the report presented to the City Council on Tuesday. About 98% of vehicles leaving the city limits are used by the police department, according to the report.
The police also account for 95% of all city-owned take-home vehicles. The department went $2 million over its fleet maintenance budget in fiscal year 2023.
District 9 council member Elizabeth Beck said it is obscene that taxpayers are having to pay the costs for someone who commutes from an hour away each day.
She noted the report took nearly six months to complete due to a lack of proper reporting on forms meant to keep track of city take-home vehicles.
Fort Worth police chief Neil Noakes was quick to take responsibility for his department’s lack of proper reporting to keep in compliance with city policy.
Officers are supposed to fill out a form to get approval to take a city vehicle home, but that form wasn’t being used the way it should be, Noakes said. The department is working with the city manager’s office to increase accountability, he said.
The city is reevaluating its criteria for which employees get to take-home city-owned vehicles on a daily basis, said Christianne Simmons with the city’s budget and data department.
She recommended stronger requirements to check driving records, clarify reporting requirements, and better definitions for vague language in the city policy.
The council is expected to get another report on potential policy changes by May 2024.
This story was originally published December 6, 2023 at 3:03 PM.
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