FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Mayor Tim Kant issued a memo this month requiring all city employees to comply with Fairhope’s take-home vehicle policy by April 18. To do so, at least 16 municipal employees would have to move within the city’s police jurisdiction or return their taxpayer-funded automobiles.

More than 40 employees have take-home vehicles, and 16 live outside Fairhope’s police jurisdiction, apparently in violation of a personnel rule, according to city records.

But Fairhope is not the only city in Baldwin County currently reevaluating its use of take-home vehicles by municipal employees.

“During budget cuts, the city of Orange Beach had made the decision to ground all take-home vehicles citywide (except for K9 vehicles) as we had quite a large number leaving our city daily,” Orange Beach City Administrator Ken Grimes Jr. stated in a March 12 memo, which attached a chart showing take-home vehicle usage in other Baldwin County cities. “The matrix (in the chart) shows which vehicles are presently being taken home in the respective cities and by which staff position.”

Grimes said in a phone interview last week that Orange Beach is preparing to release some of its take-home vehicles based on the recent study. The city’s take-home vehicle fleet has been grounded since July 2008, he said.

“Grounding the vehicles was one of about 20 actions we took as part of our overall budget cuts,” Grimes said. “We even grounded all police cars from going home, but we’re probably going to be releasing some of those.”

The March 12 take-home vehicle comparison chart was based on a questionnaire conducted by Orange Beach. Regarding Fairhope, it accurately states take-home vehicle usage with the exception of a “utilities director” having a vehicle, for which there no longer is such a position. It also did not include several positions that do have take-home vehicles, such as the water and sewer superintendent, the information technology director, and an animal control officer, according to Fairhope city records.

“We are going to make sure that we are more conscious of who takes cars home from this point forward, what their purpose is, and whether they are, in fact, ‘on-call’ and providing a service to the community,” Grimes said. “We’re going to have a little more strict mileage log to make sure who’s using what and where it’s going.”

Grimes said the city would also ensure that all employees with take-home vehicles comply with IRS rules requiring the reporting of income based on the benefit of using a city vehicle.

“We do have a tracking system,’” he said. “Each vehicle has a key card. When they put it in the (city) gas pump, it registers immediately how many gallons they received.”

In Fairhope, employees with take-home vehicles use a city gas pump but write their fuel usage on a board at the municipal garage, which is then entered into the Fairhope computer system, Kant said.

As the Orange Beach take-home vehicle chart indicates, Mayor Kant has granted waivers to the rule for some employees.

Kant said last week he made those waivers verbally for the city administrator and IT director. However, the personnel manual states that changes to its rules must be initiated by the mayor in writing, which much later be adopted by the City Council.

City Attorney Marion “Tut” Wynne stated by e-mail Friday that he did not have permission from his client — either the mayor or council — to discuss whether such verbal waivers were valid, or whether the council could make changes to the take-home rule without the mayor first initiating the change in a written document.

“At the present time, I probably won’t have a car, but it’s only because I live three miles from city hall,” Grimes said. “I would be one of the ones who would be eligible. I would take one if I lived farther away.”

Grimes said the city of Orange Beach would be reconsidering its assignment of take-home vehicles based on its study, which clarified what the industry standard was in the county.

On Feb. 8, Kant sent a draft of the memo he subsequently issued on March 18 to “all supervisors.” In his Feb. 9 response to the draft memo, Fairhope City Administrator Gregg Mims stated, “Finally, about three years ago, you approved the use of my city vehicle for take-home use,” stated Mims, who lives in Gulf Shores. “I am thankful for that decision. However, as I indicated to you yesterday, I will abide by your decision or by any amendment of the handbook as approved by the City Council. My only request is if this allowance is changed, I would request a minimum of a 90-day notice.”