642,233 cars drive Uncle Sam crazy

Americans love their cars, and so apparently does their Uncle Sam, who’s got 642,233 of them.

Operating those vehicles - maintenance, leases and fuel - cost taxpayers $3.4 billion last year, according General Services Administration data obtained and analyzed by the Associated Press.

While Cabinet and other officials say they need the vehicles to do their jobs, watchdogs say mismanagement of the government’s fleet is costing millions of dollars a year in wasteful spending.

For example:

cAt the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), fuel consumption and inventory are down, yet overall costs have increased significantly. Officials there can’t figure out why.

cThe Interior Department was told by its own watchdog that it should cut its inventory, but it added hundreds of vehicles.

cThe Veterans Affairs Department has some cars that are barely driven. One just disappeared.

Add to that the cost of drivers, a perk given to high-level government officials.

Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters has two drivers. Their salaries totaled more than $128,000 last year.

The driver for Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Michael O. Leavitt is paid about $90,000 a year. That’s more than double the average salary of an office manager or accountant, and about $35,000 more than a registered nurse earns, according to a salary calculator provided by CareerBuilder.com.

The government owns or leases sedans, sport utility vehicles, trucks, limousines and ambulances for more than three dozen agencies, the U.S. military and the Postal Service. Are they all really necessary?

“This is one bleeding part of a budget, and not just in one department, but in a lot of departments,” said Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, a longtime foe of what he considers wasteful federal spending. “When you have something bleeding like this, there can be a lot of money saved.”

Saving taxpayer dollars should be a priority, said Washington-based Citizens Against Government Waste.

“From a management standpoint, this is something that can easily be handled,” said Tom Schatz, president of the group. “It’s critical use or necessary use versus ‘well, we’ve got the money, let’s go out and buy some more cars.’ ”

HUD concedes problems with its fleet of about 450 vehicles.

Story Continues →