Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration is shutting down the city's shared car lease program and planning to ask thousands of city employees to justify their take-home cars, according to letters the Tribune obtained.
City Hall hopes to save $430,000 by ending a program in which the city leases cars from a rental company and shares the cost with employees.
David Reynolds, the city's general services commissioner, plans to send a letter Wednesday to the 78 city workers affected telling them to return their vehicles to the city by mid-July.
Reynolds cited several alternatives, including car-sharing programs such as Zipcar and the city-run FlexFleet. He also said employees who occasionally need cars for city business can use pool vehicles.
In a separate letter to department directors, Reynolds wrote that the city is re-evaluating which of the roughly 4,800 city employees will continue to be granted take-home car privileges.
First responders, including fire, police and emergency management workers, will have to fill out an authorization form and provide "legitimate justification" why they need regular access to a city vehicle 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Transportation, Streets & Sanitation, and water department employees will have to do the same.
Emanuel's chief of staff, Theresa Mintle, along with Reynolds and the city's budget director, will weigh in on who gets to keep their cars. Reynolds also warned directors that all take-home cars will be outfitted with GPS devices. If cars leave the city, the tracking device will automatically send an email to Reynolds.
Emanuel intends to cut the fleet in his office from 17 to seven vehicles to save about $46,000. The remaining cars will be used by his security detail and staff for official business.
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